


Medium Meld

by Elbowsnapper



Category: Naruto, 더 게이머 | The Gamer (Webcomic)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:55:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 90,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27696584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elbowsnapper/pseuds/Elbowsnapper
Summary: After waking up on a beach, abandoned so very far from home, Sora sets out on a mission to save himself and the rest of the world in the process. The only problem is, in order to do that, Akatsuki must die. With a complete lack of chakra, a familiar system driving his growth, and his sparkling personality at the helm, what could possibly go wrong?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Dreaming of Islands

I woke up on a beach.

An empty beach that slowly curved out of sight in both directions with not a single person in sight. The ocean looked beautiful, bright, and blue, with noticeably clear water along the shoreline. When I turned around I noted that the vast majority of the island was covered in tall leafy trees. A massive grey stone mountain towered above the trees in the distance. I had never been anywhere like this before, and I certainly didn’t remember having decided to come here in the first place.

I was having trouble remembering a lot of things actually, my name, the names of my friends and family, it was all missing. I could remember what I had been doing last night, but not _who_ I was doing it with.

There was definitely something wrong with my memory, how strange.

I was a rather calm person by nature but considering the situation, I was far more relaxed than I would have expected. I stared up at the clear blue sky, the sun was burning brightly almost directly overhead, nothing strange there.

I sat down on the sand.

What was my priority given the situation I had found myself in? I should attempt to find out where this beach was in relation to something I knew. The city I lived in also had a beach, I remembered that readily enough. I don’t remember a mountain being anywhere nearby or such thick forestry so close to the beach.

I think I could safely assume this wasn’t near my city, whose name continues to escape me.

I had seen several movies and TV shows where people had woken up on a beach, _Lost_ had been one of them. It was strange that I could remember the name of a TV show I had barely watched, but not my own name.

I would need to investigate the island and see if I could find anyone, but if I were somehow stranded on a desert island, somewhere in the middle of the ocean, I would need to do several things if I didn’t want to die.

I needed a place to sleep, sheltered from the weather and any local wildlife, I didn’t know how cold it would get here during the night or what might be in the forest looking for a meal. I would also need a source of freshwater and some sort of food.

Intelligence has increased by 1.

I recognized the floating words that had appeared in the corner of my vision immediately.

It was from that webtoon where the protagonist could level up like a video game, and whose name I couldn’t recall, more due to it being an exceptionally long time since I had read it than my strange amnesia.

It was strange that something from a story had suddenly become real, but the fact that I was in the middle of nowhere on a deserted beach felt more problematic overall, but if this power worked as it had in the story, every day I survived, the easier it should become to survive the next.

Perhaps I could eventually become strong enough to swim back to civilization or something. My planning came to a grinding halt when three people wandered into sight further down the beach, with words floating above their heads. They were dressed strangely, and one of them was tossing a spear between his hands, so I immediately moved back into the trees just in case and watched them as they passed by.

Mato Level 17  
Shinta Level 18  
Toriko Level 14

Maybe I wasn’t stranded after all.

* * *

I was stranded.

Stealth has increased by 1.

If not exactly in the same way as I had initially assumed. There was a large sprawling city on the island, and it was remarkably strange in so many ways that I had trouble reconciling it with what I was used to.

There was a massive metal ship sitting in the large harbor, cranes sat all over the docks and roads, perhaps used to unload cargo from the ship, the streets for some bizarre reason were paved with large rough bricks packed down tightly into the ground, instead of tarmac.

The houses were all multiple stories tall and made from a perfectly cut white stone, the rooves were tiled with an orange material that might have been clay.

Is that what tiles were made out of? I wasn’t sure.

The lines of the building stretched far out of sight due to the size of the city and each one had large panes of precisely cut glass lining all of the windows that were set into the buildings. There was a huge advertisement screen built into the roof of one of the buildings, showing a high definition recording of what I could only imagine was the island I was standing on, from far above it. The island itself was shaped like a large crescent moon, with the city sitting right in the middle of the thickest part of the crescent, stretching from one side of the island to the other.

It actually looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had seen it before.

There was what seemed to be a castle on the opposite side of the city or at least the large round tower parts that stuck out of most castles I had seen in pictures. I had never seen a castle before, and there was definitely no castles anywhere near _my_ city.

The people walking around the city were another element that made it far stranger. There was some wearing metal armor, others wearing leather. Some of them carried swords, while others had spears, almost all of the ones that were armed carried large tower shields strapped to their backs, and each one had a black visor of dark glass covering their faces. I was pretty sure carrying large melee weapons like that in public was illegal back home? They almost looked like riot police, without the signage on their equipment and with fucking _spears_.

Then there were the people who simply wore cloth shirts and pants that looked like they were made by hand, and their shoes were simple looking sandals, it _almost_ looked like a normal city if everyone was cosplaying as some kind of medieval person.

Stealth has increased by 1.

The stalls that I could see from my hiding place, in the bushes if you must know, were selling fish and other foods in baskets, with not a piece of plastic wrap to be seen, which seemed rather unhygienic. Some sold vegetables and fruits, while others sold simple but neat hand-woven clothes. Alongside the people were wagons being pulled by horses along the roads, although I only saw two of them over the course of an hour, and not a single car.

It made absolutely no fucking sense.

Nothing looked familiar to me in any way, this was _not_ the city I lived in.

I was hesitant to go in to ask someone where this was because I had no idea if the guys with the black visors and large weapons took kindly to strangers suddenly appearing in their city. My shirt, jeans, and closed shoes obviously didn’t belong here, I would stick out like a sore thumb. If those guys were dangerous I had no way of protecting myself from them if they turned out to be hostile to strangers and I might even find myself captured or something worse.

I was too far away to be able to see the names and levels floating above their heads, but I quickly found a solution with liberal uses of Observe. I used it on every person I could see, reading through their summaries and tried to piece together as much as I could.

“Born in the Land of the Moon,” was a common theme amongst them, although there was one guy who had apparently been “Born in the Land of Demons,” so I made sure to not stare at him for too long just in case.

I couldn’t remember having ever heard of a place with that name, but I was having trouble remembering any of the city names that I was sure I should know. Either way this island did look familiar to me, and the name had _almost_ brought me to the cusp of understanding, but not quite.

Observe has increased by 1.

Another commonality was the names, they were all in a language that I recognized as Japanese, names like Kozuki, Juko, Sayuki, Mino, and a whole lot more. I didn’t speak that language, I spoke English. Which country spoke Japanese? Which country spoke _English_? I knew there were several, I just couldn’t remember the damn names, it was infuriating.

What was odd about it, was that despite all having names that were clearly in Japanese, every single one that had passed by my hiding place had been speaking perfect English, with no hint of an accent. I kept on trying to remember which country spoke Japanese, but my strange amnesia held.

I would just call them the ‘Japanese Country.’

A lot of the descriptions referenced a ‘King’ which didn’t sound like the ‘Japanese Country’ either, I’m fairly sure they had an Emperor or a prime minister? or something? My own country had a prime minister as well, although I remembered there was a Queen overseas somewhere, and a President somewhere else as well.

Stealth increased by 1.

An island in the ‘Land of the Moon’, massive tv screens with high definition video footage, cranes, and other machinery, but they were pulling horses with carts, every single person had the ‘Japanese Country’ names, but the guards weren’t carrying Katanas. They were ruled by a ‘King’ and everybody here was speaking ‘English.’

It was like some bizarre combination of different cultures that I couldn’t even remember the name of, and it all led me to think that I was very far from home. I Observed them for a long time, but I never found myself any closer to figuring out where I was.

I eventually talked myself into heading back to the beach where I had woken up, still wary of entering the city because of the guys with spears. Despite not remembering the _name_ of where I was from, I think I could safely assume that this wasn’t it.

Either way, it did provide me with something of a direction to push myself towards, which started with meeting my basic needs of survival.

“Status,” I said curiously.

* * *

Name – Sora  
Title – N/A  
Age - 22  
Level - 1  
Health Points - 100/100  
Mana Points - 101/101  
Vitality 10 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
Strength 10 (Physical Power.)  
Speed 10 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
Perception 10 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
Intelligence 11 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
Mana 10 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
Stat points 0  
Health Recovery Rate – 0.25  
Mana Recovery Rate – 0.25  
Stealth Rating – 17  
Perception Rating - 10  
* () are tooltips that appear when hovered.

* * *

I read through it slowly, trying to burn everything into my memory.

My name was Sora, although that wasn’t familiar at all either, and unlike everyone else, I didn’t have a convenient summary of who where I was from either. I started at level one, which wasn’t unusual for a game, with ten points in every attribute except Luck, slightly unusual but not by much, and the point I received earlier had brought my Intelligence up to eleven as well.

‘Mana’ was an interesting piece of information, it was often used interchangeably with ‘Magic’ or ‘Energy’ in games, or some other kind of resource. I wondered why I had one-hundred-and-one Mana though, it looked like it should have been ten MP per point in Mana.

I had observed enough people in the city that I had unlocked the ability to see their attributes and it had taken me almost an hour before I had come up with the idea of seeing if I could work out how their levels change their stats.

I had counted a lot of peoples stats up to a total and tried to figure out what was going on, I _assumed_ that everyone started with the same stats that I had at level one, so I added the sixty starting base stats on top of it. Eventually, I thought I stumbled on the idea to divide the total stats by the number of levels, and it had given me a common number for each person that seemed roughly appropriate for all of them.

Five points per level up, distributed somehow amongst their attributes.

I would find out if I was correct when I received _my_ first level up, but I was fine with assuming that everyone got five stat points per level for now. I was also assuming that they didn’t get to choose as I might.

Perhaps they did after a fashion.

I supposed if you did a lot of physical labor your stats would probably be weighted towards strength and vitality while a lot of academic stuff would probably net you more intelligence. So life choices determined stats somewhat, so if you choose to be a bricklayer you would end up with higher physicals, that was kind of a choice right?

At least once dictated on several factors, like society, your immediate environment, and your education. I probably shouldn’t be trying to convert other people’s experiences to fit with my abnormal situation in the first place.

I had a look at the passive skills next, and there were quite a few, some of which I remembered from the source, others I didn’t.

* * *

Gamer Body (MAX)

  * Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. (He receives no physical damage from attacks only pain for a few seconds and a loss of HP).
  * Eating, drinking, and sleeping are optional.
  * After sleeping in a bed, it restores HP, MP and cures all status effects. Users body is treated like that of an RPG character.



* * *

Gamer Mind (MAX)

  * It allows the user to think through things calmly and logically.
  * It allows a peaceful state of mind.
  * Immunity to all psychological status effects.



* * *

Mana Core (Level 1) - Allows the user to store mana.

  * Increases total mana by 1 (+1 per level).
  * Using Mana grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

Health Recovery (Level 1) – Allows the user to regenerate health passively.

  * Increases Health regenerated per second by 0.25(+0.25 per level).
  * Regenerating Health grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

Mana Recovery (Level 1) – Allows the user to regenerate Mana passively.

  * Increases the Mana generated per second by 0.25(+0.25 per level).
  * Regenerating Mana grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

Mana Mastery (Level 1) – Increases efficiency of Mana use.

  * Reduces Mana Cost of skills by 0.25(+0.25 per level).
  * A skill’s cost cannot be reduced below 1 Mana.
  * Using skills with Mana Mastery in effect grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

The two gamer skills were normal, at least as far as _any_ of this was normal.

The Health Recovery and Mana Recovery was much more notable, it didn’t seem to be tied to any of the attributes in a way I could identify, it also wasn’t a percentage of my maximum respective pools like one would assume.

I was never a math guy, not really, but I’m pretty sure that sucked, what if ended up with a lot of Mana or Health, 0.25 per second, when you have thousands of mana, would take a lifetime to regenerate.

Hopefully, it leveled up quickly.

Mana Core was interesting as well, the Mana Attribute already gave 10 Mana per point, but this skill could increase it independently, although the amount was really small. Mana Mastery was also new, reducing the cost of spells by a tiny flat amount.

I didn’t need to eat, drink, or sleep anymore according to the description, and sleeping in a bed would return me to perfect health, along with healing any status effects. If that was all actually true, then all I would need to ensure my immediate survival needs were met in the short-term was somewhere safe to sleep, so I didn’t get ganked while I was asleep.

It had been several hours since I had first woken up and the temperature hadn’t really changed significantly since then, despite the sun slowly vanishing. It was still rather hot all things considered, I hope it stayed that way because I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping out in the cold.

I had exactly two active skills, Observe and Stealth.

* * *

Observe (Level 9) – Allows the user to gain information on the target.

  * The higher the level, the more detailed the information becomes.
  * Using Observe grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

Stealth (Level 7) - Allows the user to sneak around.  
Type – Toggle.  
Cast time – Instant.  
Target – Self, Other.  
Cost – N/A.

  * Increased Stealth Rating by 7(+1 per level)
  * Reduces sound made while in Stealth by 7(+1 per level)
  * Stealth Rating is checked by enemy Perception Rating.
  * Must leave enemies line of sight to use.
  * Performing actions while Stealth is active grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

Stealth was the only real conflict option I had at the moment, I was weaker physically than _everyone_ I had observed in the city, so I wasn’t exactly feeling very safe right now. The biggest thing for me to consider was that I had could use Mana.

Mana was a pretty common resource that you used to cast spells in games, I had played a _lot_ of games over the years, and the names of those seemed to still be intact at least. I also vaguely remembered the guy from the source material creating his skills.

So the real question of the day became, what exactly can I do with this?


	2. Dreaming of Beginnings

The first thing I tried to do was make a spell that could heal damage.  
  
I didn’t want to die because a snake bit me or I fell over and broke my leg or something else stupid. So I sat down on the sand, plopped my hands in my lap, and tried to use my mana. I certainly hadn’t had anything like this before, and the feeling was obvious when I tried to find it. I found it surprisingly easy to use, it moved where I wanted it to move, although it _did_ feel sluggish. It seemingly originated from the center of my chest. After a brief moment, I managed to push some of it down my arm to rest in my hand. I could feel it roiling beneath my skin, but I couldn’t see any hint of it visually. I tried to push it out of my fingers, and a few bluish-white sparks appeared at my fingertips.  
  
I grinned, I’m a god damned wizard.  
  
I played around with it for a long while, trying to get it to visually appear but I mostly just got more of the sparks. There was no spell creation menu where I could choose the effects as I had seen in some RPG’s, and no real intrinsic understanding of how to do it. Things like this were usually intent-based? Perhaps I needed to give the mana some kind of direction on what to do. I didn’t have a grasp on how to change any properties about the energy itself, so I was only left with trying to actively _tell_ it what to do.  
  
“Heal,” I said calmly while trying to push the mana out of my hand.  
  
I felt, _something_?  
  
The mana twisted slightly beneath my skin, so I repeated the word and tried to pulse my mana in time with it, it twisted slightly more with every iteration seemingly working towards something over the course of a few very long minutes. I focused all of my attention on the mana and let the world fall away, like when you stare at something for so long that your vision tunnels and everything blacked out around it. I focused entirely on the feeling of the mana and what I wanted to do.  
  
Mana has been increased by 1.  
  
“ _Heal,_ ” I said intently.  
  
The mana twisted into an impossibly complicated shape, my hand suddenly glowed with a bright translucent green light and I felt my mana start to drop quickly. The spell abruptly faded after a moment and I stared at the little notice that had appeared.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Heal.  
You have unlocked a new skill, Casting Speed.  
  
I felt a flash of triumph cut through me, _I_ had managed to do this, _me_. I’d even unlocked another passive and got another stat point out of it, I felt elated as I opened the skill menu back up to read the description.

* * *

Heal (Level 1) – Use mana to heal injuries.  
Type – Cast.  
Cast time – 4.75(5) second charge.  
Target – Self, Other.  
Cost – 1 Mana.

  * Exchange 1 point of Mana to Heal 0.25(+0.25 per level) point of HP on target.
  * Can exchange up to the maximum available Mana.
  * Casting Heal grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

It was almost exactly what I wanted, but why was it so weak? Most ‘Heal’ spells in video games healed anywhere from twenty to one-hundred HP at level _one_ and cost anywhere from one to one-hundred MP. Even if I dumped _all_ of my mana into a single Heal, the most I could do was heal twenty-five HP, at the _massive_ cost of one-hundred MP. That kind of sucked, but I had a way of fixing myself up if I got hurt now though, that’s all that mattered, weak magic was _still_ magic.  
  
The ‘Casting Speed’ passive was about what you would expect from the name.

* * *

Casting Speed (Level 1) – Reduces the casting time of skills.

  * Decreases the time taken to cast a spell by 0.25 (+0.25 per level.) seconds.
  * Spells that are reduced to 0 seconds become instant.
  * Casting spells with reduced cast times grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

I was beginning to notice a trend with all of the skills, they all started extraordinarily weak. They might end up strong at much _higher_ levels, but _right now_ they all sucked incredibly. I thought about it for a while, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it right now I had other priorities. The next thing I wanted to do was eat something, I wanted to know if I could recover health or mana with consumables like in most systems like this and hopefully, it was _another_ way to heal myself if I ran out of mana while injured.  
  
Safety first kids.  
  
I had two ideas on that front, try and catch a fish of some sort, or try and steal something from the city. One of those ideas might get me jailed or killed, so I was going to try fishing first, which was incredibly unfortunate. I _hated_ fishing, I’d spent hours with others nearby, watched them reel in multitudes of fish while I caught nothing, _far_ too many times for me to ever enjoy it. I didn’t have a rod here either, which would make things almost impossible. There were maybe two hours of light left before it was dark, judging by the position of the sun, so I wasted no time. I turned towards the tree line and searched around for a long stick, it took a while to find something the right length, but I eventually just fought with a thin green tree branch until I managed to tear it off. I managed to find a few stones that had a kind of edge on one side to use at a tool.  
  
Me caveman now, me hit the stick with stone, Ooga Booga.  
  
It took a little while to shape the end of the stick into a _very_ rough point, and I had to strip off a couple of layers of bark but in the end, I had what was probably the worst fishing spear in the history of mankind, my caveman ancestors must have been looking down at me with disappointment.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Crafting.  
  
I glanced at the notice, but didn’t bother opening up the menu again, I didn’t exactly have much time to waste with the sun still going down, I could read it later. I headed back down to the beach before kicking off my shoes and socks in the sand. I tested the water and found it still rather warm, before wading in up to my knees. I stared around at the water for a while before I spotted some small dark shape moving. I fought back the urge to run away from it, before holding my spear up and getting ready, but the thing vanished a moment later.  
  
Huh.  
  
I searched around again and the next time I saw movement I stabbed the stick at it straight away. I missed entirely, and ripples spread over the water from the failed attempt. I stabbed at another dark shape and missed again.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Fishing.  
You have unlocked a new skill, Weapon Mastery.  
You have unlocked a new skill, Spear Mastery.  
  
Nice, but I was a bit busy here dammit.  
  
I kept stabbing at the moving dark spots for over an _hour_ , and the sun was starting to dip pretty low. I had received four levels of Fishing, five levels of Spear Mastery, three levels of Weapon Mastery and two Strength points but not a single _fucking_ fish, my terrible luck at fishing apparently holding on strong, but every little notification worked like a little burst of recognition for my efforts and fuelled me ever onwards, despite the many, _many_ failed attempts. I couldn’t help but noticed that more shapes were appearing in the water the longer I kept at it. I took another stab at a shape before I pulled the spear out of the water very slowly and watched as the small silver fish wriggled about on the end of it.  
  
I was a _god-damned_ fisherman.  
  
I celebrated like an idiot for a moment, shouting and waving my stick before I started making my way back up the beach and belatedly remembered to collect my shoes along the way, there I didn’t have much light left now, so I hurried back into the edge of the forest and leaned my spear up against a tree, the fish still impaled on the end. I searched out a bunch of sticks, branches, and even a small section of a fallen tree that had broken off with the decay. I dragged it all back to the small clearing with some effort and stacked it all together. I put the little twigs and the thinnest dry bark at the bottom before making a little tepee of sticks above it.  
  
I was almost certain this fire would fail, but I was hoping my power would pick up the slack. I grabbed some of the rocks from early and started striking them together next to the bark. Almost an entire minute of failed attempts finally led to some recognition of my actions.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Firemaking.  
  
If the system saw my attempt at making a fire as valid _surely_ it would end up lit eventually. It took at least an hour, three levels of Firemaking, many frustrated noises, and one bleeding finger before I was finally sitting in front of a glorious fire. When it had first become dark, about an hour ago I _had_ considered trying to make a fireball spell, but I was far too invested in Firemaking at that point, the nefarious sunk cost fallacy at work. I carefully moved more of the branches into the fire until it was properly burning, took my fishing spear in hand, and poked it into the fire.  
  
I finally relaxed a little to enjoy the warmth of the fire that I had managed to create through the sheer power of smacking rocks together and just stared into the fire thoughtfully. I needed more information about the island and to remember where I had heard of the ‘Land of the Moon’ before, It was on the tip of my tongue but I needed something, _anything_ to jog my memory that tiny amount. I needed more information about the people here, and find out if they were actually going to be hostile, and I needed to get strong enough to protect myself in case they _were_. I needed to get my hands on some clothing that looked normal enough for me to blend into this place, so I didn’t stand quite so much.  
  
I had no money so I would have to steal what I needed, which was dangerous for obvious reasons, I would have to be careful about how much I stole though because being seen carrying a handful of goods while dressed in strange clothing would make _anyone_ suspicious of me. Did I have an inventory? I _did_ have an inventory, that was one problem solved, I could just put whatever I stole in there, I pulled the fish out to have a look at it, before poking it back in.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Cooking.  
  
There was going to be a lot of these, wasn’t there?  
  
I spent the rest of the night watching the fire and using up the rest of my firewood, the temperature on the island remained surprisingly tolerable even after the fire had dwindled down to coals. I kept expecting to suddenly feel tired, or fall asleep, but it never happened. I busied myself with casting Heal on myself until my mana emptied and then waited for it to slowly recover again. Heal was increasingly incredibly slowly, probably because I wasn’t actually fixing anything, but it did use up my mana.  
  
It took roughly seven minutes for it to refill, math was never my strong point, so take it with a grain of salt. I wasn’t being very efficient about it either, lapsing into long periods of musing and trying to remember the names of people with no success. I never ended up eating my fish, either. It was sitting in my inventory after I observed it, +1hp from a badly cooked fish wasn’t too bad. I considered it another test to see if I would get hungry enough to eat it or not.  
  
The sun eventually returned, the dark started to recede, and I had already decided on what I was going to do today. I would spend the morning grinding out Stealth and Observe near the city. See if I couldn’t find out more information about this ‘Land of the Moon’. If I ended up getting restless I would return to camp and try some more spearfishing, as much as I hated it, the more I failed now, the easy it would be to catch the stupid things in the future.  
  
I might even be able to _sell_ them for money in the city if I ever made it that far.  
  
When the light was finally bright enough to see, I headed back to the edge of the city. I found my bush untouched and quietly toggled Stealth back on. There were a surprising amount of people already up and walking around, which was strange, but it made it easier for me to gather information so I couldn’t complain. I watched them all go about their business from afar, reading about there lives and comparing their stats. There were a _lot_ of people near the docks, and even more, were appearing there by the minute.  
  
Stealth has increased by 1.  
  
I was distracted by the massive metal ship heading slowly lumbering out of the docks, and I tracked its progress until it finally vanished from my sight, and only later realized that I hadn’t Observed it while I had the chance, I hadn’t actually Observed anything other than the people. I felt abruptly stupid and started Observing all of the buildings to see if anything showed up and found some interesting but otherwise unnoteworthy things.  
  
Observe has increased by 1.  
  
There were a lot of fishermen in this city, and I meant a _lot_. I was guessing that they exported a lot of seafood, probably on that big ship that had left earlier. The next most common job was laborer, then quite a few people who worked in inns, bars, and taverns. There was also a lot of woman with the job ‘Working Girl’, they were openly talking to people on the streets, and occasionally leading men into buildings or alleyways. I guess that kind of thing was legal here, that was pretty cool.  
  
Stealth has increased by 1.  
  
I ended up staying for a couple of hours but eventually grew restless enough to head back to camp. I was slowly becoming more comfortable with the idea of going into the city, I hadn’t seen a single bad thing happen throughout my entire time watching them. No weird things that lead me to believe they were cannibals or something else horrifying, they were seemingly just normal, average people. I would give it another couple of days first just to be safe, but if it still seemed alright I might try entering the city. I picked my spear up when I got back to camp and gave it a once over. It was looking pretty beat up, and the end was severely burnt because I stuck it in the fire last night like an idiot.  
  
I observed it out of curiosity.  
  
Sharp Stick – Common.  
Durability - 12/100  
  
Well, shit, my spear was almost dead.  
  
On a whim, I tried to cast Heal on it, but it didn’t even activate, unable to target a stick. I sat down before I tried to push some mana into the stick, maybe I could fix it or reinforce it or something, the stick didn’t really take the mana, it kind of just washed over it. I focused more mana into my hand as I had with the Heal spell, but this time I focused on healing the _durability_ instead. I started a mantra in my head about fixing and durability, repeating the words with single-minded focus.  
  
Repair, Durability, Fix, Durability.  
  
I repeated it for almost ten minutes before the mana twisted into another complicated shape, strangely similar to the Heal spell, in a sense. My hand lit up with a blue glow and the stick shuddered once in my hand before the spell ended.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Repair.  
  
I pulled it up after a moment to see what it did.

* * *

Repair (Level 1) – Use mana to repair items durability.  
Type – Spell.  
Cast time – 4.75(5) second charge.  
Target – Object.  
Cost – 1 Mana Point.

  * Exchange 1 point of Mana to repair 0.25(+0.25 per level) Durability.
  * Can exchange up to the maximum available Mana.
  * Casting Repair grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

I was getting really sick of this 0.25 nonsense.  
  
Mana Core has increased by 1.  
  
I cast the spell and watched as the stick was magically pulled back into better condition, the burnt end that had partially fallen off became rough wood again, and the missing material returned.  
  
Repair has increased by 1.  
  
It took four casts of Repair to fix the stick, and seven minutes of waiting to recover mana in between each cast, which was a really long time, I could have probably just made another spear by the time I had finished. I _did_ get a level of Mana Recovery which sped it up a _tiny_ bit, but it was still a problem. How did the guy deal with his mana issues in the source? Didn’t he just put all his points into a mage build? I was still only level one though, I didn’t have any points. I vaguely remembered that he had some skill he got from a book about breathing or something.  
  
Mana Recovery has increased by 1.  
  
No, it was _meditation_. I could probably recreate that without too much issue, I was already almost completely certain that it was going to only increase my recovery rate by 0.25 though. It seemed to be an ongoing theme. A complicated mantra and almost thirty minutes of my time later I was proven correct.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Meditation.  
  
I studied the description.

* * *

Meditate (Level 1)  
Type – Toggle.  
Target – Self.  
Cast time – Instant.  
Cost – N/A.

  * Meditate to increase Health and Mana Recovery by 0.25 per second (+0.25 per level).
  * Increases stamina recovery speed by 0.25 per second (+0.25 per level).
  * Unable to move more than 1m while in use.
  * Meditating grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

I bit back my annoyance at being correct and tried to look on the bright side, _eventually,_ I would be able to regenerate quicker. The not being able to move limitation was kind of expected but still disappointing. I toggled it on and immediately felt my mind clear. It was a strange feeling like my thoughts had both sharpened and broadened at the same time. I almost felt more _focused_ as well somehow. I’m glad it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, because I could already tell that I would be using this a _lot_. I finally made my way back to the beach and spent the rest of the day fishing and splashing around in the shallows, while waving my spear around like a maniac. I had a great deal more luck while fishing today, and everything I caught immediately went into my inventory. The higher the skill grew the easier I found it to locate and spear the fish, it was actually bizarre how much more successful I was today than yesterday.  
  
I earned myself several levels from my efforts, three more fishing, one more weapon mastery, four more spear mastery, and another two strength levels. The second strength point was what got me to stop fishing, curious as to what it was actually from. Swinging the stick around maybe? It wasn’t exactly heavy, but I _was_ technically carrying something. I set up my camp for the night when it grew dark, it only took me half the time to make a fire this time and I spent the night coming up with a training plan.  
  
Push-ups would probably be enough for Strength grinding, at least for now. Running would probably be how you got Speed points, but I wasn’t sure about Vitality. Perception said it increased accuracy, so maybe _throwing_ things at a target of some kind would work. I didn’t think I could train Intelligence on the beach, not unless I could get a hold of a pack of cards or something, maybe I could play memory? Mana seemed to be easy enough, whenever I cast spells or played with my mana it seemed to increase.  
  
I set my first goal to reach the equivalent stats of a laborer in the city, they seemed to generally be around level fifteen to twenty, with an average stat distribution of twenty-five points across the board, although most of them tended did have slightly lower mental stats while the physicals were approaching thirty. The guards were entirely out of reach, for now, each of them sitting between level thirty to fifty or even higher. They averaged stats in the high fifties, with some _much_ higher outliers. I was putting off my trip into the city until I could at _least_ handle an angry laborer, as it was I was weaker than even the tavern girls. I had a plan now, Stealth, Observation, Meditate in the morning, physical training during the day, Mana training at night.  
  
I toggled Meditate on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Status  
> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 1  
> Health Points - 100/100  
> Mana Points - 169/169  
> Vitality 10 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 14 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 10 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 10 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 11 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 16 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.25  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 1.5  
> Stealth Rating – 19  
> Perception Rating - 10  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.


	3. Dreaming of Realisations

Four days later I finally figured out where I was.  
  
I felt incredibly stupid for having not realized it. I had been working under the assumption that I was _still_ in _my_ world. When I was doing my daily Observation I noticed a ship, not the same massive metal one from a while ago, but a smaller, but still quite large, wooden ship. When I Observed it I found that it was a passenger and cargo ship bringing people from the ‘main continent’ which was an interesting tidbit, but what was even _more_ interesting was three of the people that exited the ship, they were low leveled and had rather standard jobs, a seamstress, a laborer, and a merchant. They were also born in places outside of the Land of the Moon.  
  
Places that I _recognized_ , and places that absolutely didn’t exist. Born in the village Hidden in the Stone. Born in the village Hidden in the Bamboo. Born in the village Hidden in the Waterfall. Stone and Waterfall were both _ninja_ villages from an anime I knew pretty well, while I hadn’t actually heard of Bamboo at all, it was apparently a ‘Hidden Village’ none the less. I was in the world of Naruto.  
  
Primary Quest Unlocked.  
Stop the world from ending.  
Failure – Capture, Enslavement, Death.  
  
Could that be any vaguer? There were _plenty_ of things that might constitute threats to the world here. Pain wanted to nuke a bunch of countries to threaten the world into peace, which might have counted. Obito and Madara Uchiha wanted to stick everyone inside a permanent illusion of some kind. Black Zetsu wanted to revive Kaguya, and _she_ wanted to absorb all of the chakra or something, either way, the end result was everyone in a genjutsu as well. Hell the rest of those Otsutsuki people or whatever they were called, also wanted to do the same thing, and those were all just the main problems. What did world-ending _mean_? All of the people dead or otherwise incapacitated? Was it more literal and the world would explode or something?  
  
I didn't know.  
  
There was also weird things like the zero-tail running around that absorbed hatred or something to grow stronger, and the Sky Ninja that wanted to kill everyone along with it. There was that strange prison from that one movie where the immortal demonic flying monster escaped and wanted to kill everyone or that _other_ movie with the weird stone of Gelel and that wasn’t even the end of it either. There was that super-powered tower thing that Kabuto was trying to use to do something to become a god or something or the guy that lived on the fucking _moon_ who planned on smashing it into the earth at some point, _that_ probably counted as well. What about that movie with the future telling girl, with the immortal army and the shadow demon that wanted to conquer the world. What about Orochimaru? He could probably count as well if he managed to survive long enough.  
  
Was that where I had heard ‘Land of the _Demons_ ’ from? Wasn’t there a puppet-guy who time-traveled as well? Was he trying to end the world or take it over? Whose perspective was the world ending _from_ mine _?_ Was there a distinction? _Which_ threat did I need to save the world from? It wasn’t _here_ , was it? On this island? Now that I was remembering all of the random nonsense from the show I was reminded of the movie with the rich dude and his son, the one with the circus, wasn’t that _here?_ How did I forget _that_?  
  
I refocused before I got too far off track.  
  
That movie _probably_ took place on this island, sometime before Shippuden had started because Naruto was still short. Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Rock Lee? They had been the main cast, I think. There was also that one dude who could turn people to stone with his hand. Had those events already happened? Or was it going to happen in the future? I’m fairly sure the king died in that movie, turned to stone if I recalled correctly. I had no chance of remembering what _his_ name was, but he was an old dude with long hair, and his son bought a circus before coming back here. The son _also_ had a son, and he shot people with suction cup arrows!  
  
I don’t think any of this was going to help me, but memory worked strangely, the more random things I could remember the more related information I would probably uncover as a result.  
  
They showed up on this island sometime after Sasuke had left Konoha because Rock Lee was with Team Seven _instead_ of him, but it had to be _before_ Naruto had gone on his training trip with Jiraiya. Somewhere in the interlude between Naruto and Shippuden? That gave me a timeline of sorts, now I just needed to figure out _when_ exactly _I_ had arrived here in regards to that timeline.  
  
I refocused again.  
  
Okay, if the old guy with long hair was _still_ the king that meant it was some unknown amount of time _before_ the events of the movie took place. If the large dude with short brown hair was king, it was during Naruto’s training trip? or sometime afterward. That was goal number one, for now, find out who the current king was. I also needed to figure out what I could actually do to stop _any_ of these threats, and then work out the order in which they came about. Each of the threats I had thought of that could fill the criteria would require a high level of personal power to accomplish which I didn't currently have. Almost _all_ of the world ending threats were S-rank ninjas or monsters that were even _worse_. I needed to be able to survive a fight with those guys at a _minimum_ if I wanted to even affect the outcomes.  
  
That meant that I had a bunch of things I needed to work on and no idea how much time I had to figure them out. I knew that this ability created things in line with my intentions to some degree, like the heal skill, or even the repair skill. I needed skills to become as fast as a ninja, so some kind of speed-related skill, and a way of perceiving fast-moving targets. I needed to be able to survive getting hit by jounin level ninja, people who could punch through stones and crack the earth through physical attacks alone, so some kind of full-body shielding skill of some kind. I needed to be able to deal _damage_ to people who could tank those same attacks with ease, so an offensive ability of some kind that dealt damage in a way that could bypass durability or Peirce through physical defenses. Something that worked at a far range would be ideal.  
  
There were many one-hit-kill techniques in this world, a simple punch from someone like Sakura would also likely one-shot me. There were conditional things as well like Nagato’s soul ripping touch thing, the God of Death Summoning. Pure overwhelming force like Bijudama, Chidori, Rasengan, and others that all qualified as well. Almost every elemental ninjutsu would kill me as I am right now. I needed a way to _avoid_ them if there was no way out, so some kind of fast-acting teleportation that could get me out of the way regardless of obstacles. That left energy defense, I needed something to block, absorb or otherwise nullify chakra attacks, and defense again illusion.  
  
I didn’t have anything in mind yet for the first but the second I _might_ have gotten lucky with.  
  
Genjutsu, if I was remembering correctly had something to do with jamming your chakra into someone with a technique to disturb _their_ chakra, and the result was they could make you see, hear, feel, smell things that weren’t there. I didn’t have chakra at all, which was _bullshit_ , but it might not work on me either. I also had that passive which said I was immune to ‘Psychological Effects.’ If mentally influencing me to see things that weren’t there counted as a psychological effect, it _might_ have some form of reduced effectiveness, or if I’m _really_ lucky I might even be immune entirely. I would have to test this out sometime in the future, and I had no idea how I was going to do _that_ safely.  
  
Physically I was still far below where I needed to be, I still wasn’t anywhere near as strong as the guards, although I _was_ slowly approaching the Laborers, so there was an upside at least. I had unlocked several skills when I first started working out, but I still had to stop all the time, and Meditate was getting a _lot_ of training when I ran out of steam. All the running _had_ become easier over the last few days, it seemed to contribute to Vitality as well as Speed. Although Vitality seemingly leveled at a _much_ slower rate so there was probably some better exercise specifically for it that I hadn’t thought of. It felt _amazing_ being able to watch myself grow stronger from even simple actions and exercises.  
  
I had stayed next to the city for much longer than usual, worrying in the bushes and the sun was high in the sky when I finally started heading back to my camp. My mind turned over what I needed over and over again, as I refined my list of goals a hundred times but I kept coming back to the same things.  
  
I needed to continue my physical training as much as possible, that was my primary goal. My secondary goal was to find out where I was in the timeline, and my tertiary goal was to create at least _one_ of the skills I had decided on. A ranged attack, a physical defense, and energy defense, a speed skill, a perception skill, and a teleport skill.

* * *

A week passed by quickly.

I had moved my observation and stealth training to later in the day, so I had more time to train my physicals, and I’m not going to lie, I kind of hated it all. I had never been the type of person to follow a routine, but ‘Capture, Enslavement, Death,’ wasn’t something that I could just choose to ignore, suddenly having superpowers after a life of relative mediocrity was pretty novel as well.  
  
I would go catch something at first light and drop it into my inventory, then I would start running until I couldn’t anymore, dump all my mana into a Heal before Meditating back to good condition again. Then I would start all over again in a second rotation, only with push-ups, the gains were great, but the boredom was _awful_. Once I got sick of doing the same thing for hours on end, which was frequently, I would stealthily make my way to the edge of the city and try to gather some information that might lead me to some insight on _when_ I was. The time of day I had previously going seemed to have crippled my progress because I learned some _remarkably_ interesting information _very_ quickly when I started going to the city later on in the day. It was a numbers game really, there was simply way more people out and about later on in the day.  
  
Like the important-looking guy who was surrounded by a large number of guards as he wandered through the market, I only saw him for a minute, but he was one of the names I actually remembered from the movie, simply because it was so ridiculously out of place I couldn’t have forgotten it if I wanted to.  
  
Shabadaba.  
  
It was the guy who hired the three ninjas to assassinate the king in the movie, I’m fairly sure the guy ended up dying near the end, so if he was _alive_ right now, this had to be sometime _before_ the movie occurred and before Shippudden. Eventually _,_ if the events of the movie actually took place in this world an opportunity would arise because Team Seven minus Sasuke plus Rock Lee would be coming here. I could interact with them in some way and a question had been plaguing me ever since I realized it.  
  
Should I interact with them at all?  
  
If I was around the time I thought I was, there was a minimum of roughly two years until the events of Shippuden? That was _two years_ of training to turn me into a god-killing machine. It could be _much_ more if I was several years earlier than the events of the movie. What if the world-ending threat happened _before_ Shippuden? Should I be already heading somewhere _else_ to stop whatever it was? If I left or ignored them if they did come here, would I be dooming myself and everybody else? What if I was supposed to ignore them?  
  
The Stone of Gelel movie should have happened _before_ they came here, I think. So if that was what the quest was referring to, I would probably never be able to get there in time if it hadn’t already happened. I couldn’t even remember which country _that_ one had taken place in. Wasn’t Gaara involved somehow? Somewhere near Suna maybe? Forget the Stone of Gelel then. I probably couldn’t do anything about that. What was the next incoming threat? The possessed shadow demon guy with the immortal army from the Land of Demons? No, that happened right at the beginning of Shippuden, which was still several years away.  
  
The chunin exams would have already happened, so the Third Hokage was probably dead. Tsunade would be the Hokage now, Sasuke would have defected to Orochimaru, whose arms are still busted? Kimimaro and his team was dead, which was unfortunate because he was one of the most interesting ninjas in the entire show. Jiraiya would soon be taking Naruto away from the village, likely right after the events that happened here. Akatsuki starts to move around now as well, they start going after the Jinchuriki _before_ Shippudden.  
  
Akatsuki or just Nagato might be the _target_ of the quest, should I try and interfere with Akatsuki? Sabotage or delay them? Could I even do that? _Which_ Jinchuriki did they go after first? I couldn’t remember the exact order but I had a rough idea of it, I think it changed depending on the medium as well? I’m pretty sure there were some changes between the manga and the anime. I was in a movie location, so I had no idea which this place was drawing from. I knew that they _weren’t_ going after the Jinchuriki by the number of tails, I think the first one might have been that steam guy in the red armor? I think he was from Stone? Iwa? Then it was the green-haired girl from the Waterfall Village, _right_ after the Suna-Leaf joint chunin exams. That was a couple of months before Shippuden in the timeline, who had gone after her again? Kakuzu was a from that village, Taki? It was probably Kakuzu and Hidan, when did they recruit Hidan? Didn’t Kakuzu have an unnamed partner before him? The next one was Gaara? That was like the first episode of Shippuden, so two years away at least, Deidara and Sasori went after him at Suna, he was already the Kazekage by then as well.  
  
I still wasn’t even sure if _they_ were the threat, I would just have to mess with _everyone_.  
  
To mess up Akatsuki’s plans, I had to either try and save the steam-guy from Iwa, or the green-haired girl from Taki. Who had gone to bring in the steam guy? Deidara was a rock ninja, wasn’t he? Deidara and Sasori, _maybe_ , if I tried to save the steam-guy, or Kakuzu and Hidan if I tried to save the green-haired girl. Neither of those was a good starting fight. Hidan was probably the weakest member of Akatsuki, but from what I remembered he was super durable, and together with Kakazu they had taken like two different teams to bring them down and they _still_ almost failed to do it without Naruto appearing. Kakuzu himself was one of the physically strongest members, with both close combat and ranged abilities, he was durable as well with that earth technique he used.  
  
Deidara was sneaky as fuck from what I remembered hiding inside his own attacks and generally being a motherfucker, he was a long-ranged fighter with high mobility and massive damage potential, he had defeated Gaara _and_ almost managed to kill Sasuke as well. Sasori was an entire bag of _fuck no_ that I didn’t want _any_ part of, all his weapons were coated in a lethal poison that immediately killed you or something, and he could summon like _hundreds_ of puppets at a time all with weapons coated with the stuff. I was struggling with the idea of fighting _two_ people at once, _fuck_ fighting hundreds of them, _and_ he had that iron sand ninja as well, one of the previous Kazekage.  
  
 _Fuck that_.  
  
Kakuzu and Hidan seemed like the safer bet if there _was_ such a thing. The green-haired girl had an episode with Gaara which might have been filler? I’m not sure, at that joint chunin exam in Suna. I remember that she had two jounin teammates for some reason, and they kicked everybody’s asses. What a total cheater. Then some random guy had tried to steal both the tailed beasts but failed, who was that guy? It wasn’t Akatsuki that time, but some random dude with a grudge against somebody? Was he important?  
  
 _I couldn’t remembe_ r.  
  
Akatsuki had appeared somewhere near Taki, right as they arrived? Presumedly they killed the two jounin with her and then kidnapped the green-haired-girl. I had no idea _how_ they had stumbled upon them there, but I assumed they must have at least _checked_ Taki first and found her missing? I could find out where the next chunin exam was going to be located, and make sure to be near Taki during it, see if I couldn’t gank the pair when they attacked her. Keeping at least _one_ of the Jinchuriki out of their reach would slow down the whole Akatsuki plot, at least a little bit. That _had_ to contribute in _some_ way to saving the world right?  
  
So how the hell did I kill Kakuzu and Hidan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Status  
> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 1  
> Health Points - 260/260  
> Mana Points - 452/452  
> Vitality 26 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 28 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 35 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 16 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 15 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 39 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.25 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 5.75 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate - 7.5 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 4.5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 5.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 30  
> Perception Rating - 16  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.


	4. Dreaming of Iron

I had already done a lot of thinking, and come up with the broad type of skills that I needed, but it was time to refine those into something that would be useful against those I was setting myself up to fight.  
  
Hidan was still an S-rank ninja, despite all the shit he got online, and stronger physically than Kakashi, or Asuma had been, although I had personally thought that if he _had_ fought Kakashi in a one on one fight Hidan probably would have lost. I was still able to bleed though, and if he managed to get any of my blood I would be completely screwed, so I needed a way to avoid bleeding.  
  
A physical shield of some kind, something that covered my skin and blocked damage.  
  
Something like what Kakuzu himself had used, that earth skin technique with the dumb name that I couldn’t remember. Something about a spear? Or that steel skin technique from that guy that was stealing everyone’s bloodlines from one of the other movies.  
  
How do I go about making something like that? Try and cover myself in mana? Maybe try and make a thin layer against my skin, or try to just _push_ mana into my skin in general? I tried it for a moment, pushing it down into my hand and attempted to flatten it on my palm. My palm sparked for a moment before the mana appeared through my skin as a pale blue light, and I spread the mana outwards slowly to cover my fingers, and slowly up my forearm and it lost cohesion a moment later, my skill with mana not good enough.  
  
I frowned, this hadn’t happened when I made the Heal skill, I needed to try and hone my intention. I spread mana into my palm again and flattened it against my skin, repeating a mantra in my mind. I dropped into Meditate to help and my focus sharpened.  
  
Harden skin with mana, Increase defense, reduce physical damage, harden skin with mana, Increase defense, reduce physical damage.  
  
Almost an hour later it finally seemed to take effect as I felt the mana in my hand pull itself into a tighter and more condensed form around my hand, before flowing up my arm and over the rest of my body before it vanished. I opened my eyes and was greeted with the sight of a new skill.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Iron Hide.  
  
I stared at it resignedly.

* * *

Iron Hide (Level 1) – Infuses mana into the skin to create a protective layer.  
Type – Toggle.  
Target – Self.  
Cost – Reserves 5.5(10) Mana per second.

  * Exchange 5.5 Mana points per second for 0.25(+0.25 per level) points of Damage Mitigation.
  * Can exchange up to maximum mana for increased Damage Mitigation.
  * Any damage below the threshold is mitigated entirely.
  * Any damage over the threshold is reduced by resistances first before being applied to Iron Hide.
  * Having Iron Hide Active grants EXP towards this skill.



* * *

It was perhaps the weakest shield that had ever existed, but it was better than nothing, if only slightly. I toggled it on felt the drain reduce my mana recovery to a quarter of a point. I was just able to leave it on without running out of mana, that was _something_ at least. I dumped most of my mana into a Heal and then dropped into Meditate, it had turned out that not only could I use Observe while it was active, but I could _also_ toggle on Stealth as well, as long as I remained hidden at the time.  
  
Observe, Stealth, Meditate, Iron Hide, Mana Core, Mana Mastery, Casting Speed, and Heal all being trained at once, now _this_ was efficiency. It was also still _incredibly_ boring, tracking the progress of each skill couldn’t keep my attention for long. The Observe skill helped to relieve _some_ of the boredom, being able to read a summarised history about everyone was pretty interesting. I found that there really were a lot of commonalities between people though, but even then almost everyone had some unique flavor text of some kind, there wasn’t much variety in jobs, and I started trying to guess what a person’s job was before I checked.  
  
I rarely got it right, but it was a way to pass the time. I had made a note of it a while ago, but there was a _lot_ of ‘Working Girls’ wandering around the city, even during the day. It seemed to be one of the more common jobs in fact, alongside Fisherman, Fisherwoman, and Labourer. Another interesting fact that I noted was that nearly everybody was a little bit below maximum health, usually one or two points at most, but occasionally much more, especially for those with visible injuries. The more wealthy someone looked the higher their current HP was, generally, of course, there were still outliers everywhere.  
  
I hadn’t seen a single ninja yet, and the highest leveled person I had seen was an elite guard, sitting at level fifty. I doubted there was a single guard on this island that would have taken any of the main cast more than a few seconds to defeat, I was mostly thinking of the Genin though. Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Kiba, Shino, Ino or Sakura, I couldn’t imagine _any_ of them struggling even against the elite guy. What would an average Genin look like level-wise? If an elite guard were level fifty, I would guess that a Genin would be at level seventy? How about Genin like Neji or Lee? Eighty? Ninety? The gap between a Genin and a chunin was in relative strength was probably massive, but a jounin was even worse. What level would Kakashi or Gai be, or even the weaker jounin like Anko or Kurenai, or that sword guy that died during the chunin exam? One hundred? One twenty? What level would the S-ranks be in this hypothetical? One fifty, two hundred or even higher?  
  
It was nothing but guesswork, but I could treat it as something to work towards. I needed opponents of some kind to fight, or some low level fetch quests or something if I wanted to level up, but I still didn’t want to just start traipsing around the city with all of those guards. Wasn’t there supposed to be an instant dungeon or something to train in? I remember the guy raising his hand into the air and saying dungeon or something like it. I would test it tomorrow morning.  
  
I couldn’t help but think if it _did_ work I would only get 0.25 EXP per kill. It was dark when I finally gave up for the day, and I slept more out of desire than need, it was the first time I had done so since arriving on this damn island.

* * *

I woke up at almost midday judging by the position of the sun.  
  
I chided myself for wasting an entire night sleeping when I had to kill S-rank ninja in the distant future and got up a moment later. The Instant dungeon didn’t work at all, no matter what I attempted, so I started my daily routine once more but the entire time I kept coming back to thinking about Kakashi’s team. If I told them about everything that I thought might happen, what happens then? What effects would it have on the world?  
  
What should _I_ be doing? Getting strong enough to help fight Kaguya? Trying to stop strong ninja from dying?  
  
Would Jiraiya still run off to fight Pain if I told them about him early? I wouldn’t be able to stop him if he wanted to go, and he would almost certainly die, even with knowledge of Nagato’s real body. Konan would be there as well, and she had to have been jobbing in that fight, especially after what she had pulled against Obito later on, as strong as Jiraiya was it would be multiple S-ranks versus him on his own.  
  
Speed has increased by 1.  
  
No, that was storyline railroading, someone as experienced as Jiraiya, a _real_ Jiraiya, wouldn’t just run straight to his death if I told them about it. I could give them knowledge about every single one of Akatsuki’s members and explain a method to kill each of them. That would go a long way to stopping them from taking all of the Jinchuriki, surely.  
  
If I could get a message to Sasuke of some sort, I could ensure he knew about Itachi _before_ he killed the guy. That’s potentially _two_ more S-rank ninja to help fight Kaguya, three if I could get Sasuke on board early as well.  
  
That pink crystal chick who worked for Orochimaru, what was her name? Garden? Gearin? Could I get her on the side of the good guys somehow, she was stupidly loyal to Orochimaru from what I recall, but eventually she ended up on Naruto’s side somehow, and didn’t she have a sibling or minion that she wanted to protect? Something to do with the three tails?  
  
Who else?  
  
Danzo was still around and he might have been a total dickhead, but he was a strong ninja, I’m not sure I should try and go near that guy until I could defend myself though, that sounded like a recipe for disaster. Zabuza and Haku would already be long dead, so I couldn’t try and save them, the sword would be near that bridge though.  
  
Strength has increased by 1.  
  
Kimmimaro would also be dead, albeit more recently. Jugo, and Suigetsu would probably be in prison by now, I could release them. I had no way of controlling Jugo without Sasuke or Kimmimaro though so If I tried anything on that front I would need to be at least strong enough to fight him off.  
  
Karin worked as the prison warden or something in one of Orochimaru’s other bases, I might be able to do something there as well, wasn’t she an Uzumaki? Maybe I could just capture her and drop her off in Konoha and let them sort it out.  
  
The old man in the Sky Ninja movie, he had ended up being _stupidly_ strong as well. I wondered if I could get him to stop trying to kill everyone? I doubted it, old people could be very stubborn about things, and he had some kind of trauma from all of his people being killed during one of the wars or something.  
  
The fourth Kazekage had already died as well, before the chunin exam, that was Orochimaru’s doing as well. It was so hard to remember the minor characters, real people now who probably wouldn’t appreciate his glibness, who had died.  
  
What about the more major ones then? Neji died in the war, I would hopefully have this resolved long before that happened again. Asuma had been killed by Hidan. If I managed to kill Hidan then we would have exactly one Asuma for the big fights, the two tails Jinchuriki got hunted down by Hidan and Kakuzu as well at some point, just before Asuma died. Hidan and Kakazu were looking like the best target to go after first.  
  
Mana has increased by 1.  
  
Green haired girl, two tails girl, Asuma. Alright, I’ve made my decision, I would do my best to kill the immortal duo.

* * *

Primary Quest unlocked.  
Kill Hidan and Kakuzu.  
Objectives  
Save Green-haired-girl.  
Save Two-tails-girl.  
Save Asuma.  
Reward  
???  
Failure – Death.

* * *

How come this one had come with objectives? They didn’t even have the damn names listed either, how annoying. Green-haired-girl was first, at Taki right after the Suna-Leaf Chunin exam. Two-tails-girl died a little while after Gaara was captured, and Asuma died right after Two-tails-girl. So I had until that Suna-Konoha chunin exams to figure out how to kill them both and save Green-haired-girl, which would spare the other two by default? Hopefully. I think Asuma would be fine as soon as I killed Hidan but Akatsuki would probably send a different pair after the Two-tails-girl eventually. Surely whoever they sent after her couldn’t be that much worse than these two?  
  
Hidan was durable enough to survive Kakuzu’s area of effect techniques head-on without taking _any_ damage, so I would need something strong enough to pierce or cut through that level of durability. Cutting Hidan’s limbs off _should_ be enough to put him down as long as I stopped Kakuzu from fixing him up, and then I could bury him or chuck him in a fire or something.  
  
Kakuzu was the bigger problem, he had techniques of every element, and he could split into multiple opponents with his masks which worried me. I would need to gank him first as Kakashi had. Take one of his masks out before they knew the fight was even happening. I had no idea where each mask was located other than in some random order along his back. I needed to attack from stealth, so a long-range piercing attack that was strong enough to break the masks.  
  
So a fast, long-range, and accurate piercing attack that I could spam at them both.  
  
What would that look like? A bullet? An arrow? A needle? What could I emulate to get something that would fit the criteria? Some kind of penetrating energy attack? Frieza’s death beam, but smaller and tighter? Something like a needle-thin beam of mana? I pushed mana into my hand, before trying to push it into my fingertip. I kept on loading it up until my finger started to glow with faint blue light, and sparked furiously. I condensed it all down to a tiny dot, as small as I could force it before pointing my finger at the sand in front of me and focused all of my attention on a mantra of what I wanted to do.  
  
Ranged. Penetration. Needle. Beam. Piercing. Ranged. Penetration. Needle. Beam. Piercing.  
  
It took several long minutes before the mana at my fingertip abruptly squeezed even tighter together, and erupted from my fingertip in a tiny, needle-thin, white line of energy that hit the sand before vanishing. My mana dropped significantly from the spell, but there was a tiny divot in the sand, almost like someone had poked it lightly with the end of a pen.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Line Spear.  
  
The passing wind brushed some loose sand over the top of my tiny indentation, and I pouted, why did everything start so weak?

* * *

Line Spear (Level 1) – A long-range skill that penetrates the target.  
Type – Cast.  
Cast Time – 4.75(10) seconds.  
Target – Other.  
Cost – 95.5(100) mana.

  * Penetration 0.25 (+0.25 per level.)
  * Range 1m (+1 per level.)



* * *

Where was the _damage_?  
  
I read over the description again, but there was nothing, I went back and checked on the stat tooltips to check exactly what the Mana stat did again. Increased total mana by 10 per point, there was no other magical stat. What? How did it calculate damage then? If I shot someone with this, what would happen? How much damage would they take? None? Was this even an _attack_ if it didn’t do any damage? The cost was insane, one-hundred mana for something that wouldn’t even pierce through a centimeter of sand. I frowned down for a moment before I grit my teeth and shot myself in the foot. It felt like someone had tapped me lightly with something, not even hard enough to cause a single point of damage.  
  
It imparted kinetic force of _some_ kind if only a little amount. If I leveled it up significantly would it hit harder? It said the penetration increased each level. Point-two-five penetration had done nothing more than a tiny tap, what would ten ‘penetration’ look like? What about one hundred? If I leveled it high enough would it impart enough force to break through wood or stone? Or Hidan? I dropped into Meditate before casting it again, but this time I aimed directly in front of me. I waited for the required charge time and then launched it. The Line Spear cut across the air in front of me like an instant, before dissipating after what must have been a single meter.  
  
Line Spear has increased by 1.  
  
Three casts for the first level which wasn’t exactly unusual, but it cost _so_ much to use.  
  
It was probably another four-to-ten cast for the third level, which was almost a thousand mana at the upper end. I would need to constantly be in Meditate to train this in a useful amount of time. The range had increased to two meters with the level, which was a decent jump actually, while the penetration increased to point-five. Point-five _what_ though? There was no penetration _distance_ measurement associated with it, was it a force-rating of some kind? The kinetic impact rating?  
  
I cast it again when I had the mana and watched it flash through the air, the range had definitely increased, so fifty meters at level fifty? That was a pretty long distance, I would probably have a lot of trouble aiming accurately at that range. I spent the rest of the day just training Line Spear, Meditate, and Iron Hide and ignoring pretty much everything else. I thought about trying to make another offensive skill, but anything else I made would likely be just as weak as this seemed to be. If I could get it strong enough to pierce through a tree then I would know that I was on the way to creating something dangerous.  
  
When the sun started to go down I went back to camp and made a small fire before continuing to train Line Spear on the sand. Thinking about everything that I needed to do, I felt like I had a long road ahead of me, and enough time to walk it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 1  
> Health Points - 270/270  
> Mana Points - 487/487  
> Vitality 27 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 29 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 36 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 16 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 16 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 42 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.25 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 6.75 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate - 7.5 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 5.75 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 30  
> Perception Rating - 16  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.


	5. Dreaming of Fools

I spent another five days just training before I finally did something daring, or perhaps stupid was a better descriptor.  
  
I went into the city.  
  
I had already had several run-ins with people along the beach over the last few weeks, none of them had made any hostile moves towards me, and nobody had come to investigate my camp afterward. I was a fair deal stronger now as well, so I assumed that it would be safe enough to try _walking_ around the city.  
  
I got some strange looks, which might have been because of my clothes or my height.  
  
The people in the Land of the Moon seemed to average about five foot five, with the occasional six-foot outlier. My height of somewhere around six-and-a-half-foot stuck out, nobody commented on it though, in fact nobody made _any_ attempt to speak to me at all, glancing away when I made eye contact.  
  
Strange.  
  
I was able to Observe a lot of noteworthy things from _within_ the city, including things I never had a chance to see from the outskirts. I saw that the money they used to pay for goods wasn’t the Ryo like I had expected, instead it was simply ‘Moon dollars’ only they were stamped metal coins with a half-moon printed on one side, and a stern face on the other. There were several denominations, ranging from as little as a ‘$1’ Coin to a ‘$100’ Coin.  
  
It was extremely bizarre and It reminded me that I had ‘$100’ in the bottom left corner of my inventory. I had initially thought it might be a normal one-hundred-dollar bill, but when I tested it a moment later, I found myself holding a single one-hundred-dollar coin of the local currency. What was even more interesting was that I could withdraw it from my inventory in smaller denominations as well, along with a little drop-down prompt that changed the currency between Ryo and Moon Dollars. I placed it back and pulled out two fifty-dollar coins.  
  
This was really _fucking_ weird.  
  
The discovery that I had working currency was a _curse_ that immediately made me want to spend it on something, but I managed to restraint myself from buying anything for now. People hadn’t been near as weirded out by my clothing as I had first assumed they would be, what I needed was some more information because it had occurred to me last night that I might have been wrong.  
  
What if this was _after_ the King had been killed, but Shabadaba had _won_? What if Team Seven hadn’t come here at _all_ because it was movie material and not part of the main story? I had no idea, and I needed to find out immediately.  
  
I could offer someone an undetermined amount of money in exchange for answering some of my questions, perhaps one of the many working girls. I had a few burning questions that I needed answering, namely, who the King currently was, and if it was the old straight-haired guy I needed to know if his son was currently on the island, or if he was somewhere else that should help narrow the timeline down. I needed to figure out whether or not Shabadaba had already overthrown the King or if he were about to try so I could either run away or do something about it.  
  
I hadn’t decided which yet.  
  
I wandered around the city for several hours, observing everyone I met. I eventually stumbled upon a working girl performing a _very_ lewd act in an alleyway. I waited out of sight until she had finished up and when her customer had vanished back I stepped into the alleyway and headed towards her.  
  
Observe said her name was Yuna, twenty-seven years old, and she spotted me almost immediately, so I gave her a friendly wave.  
  
“Hi!” I said happily. “I’m Sora.”  
  
The first person I had spoken to since I had arrived, I’m not going to lie I was pretty excited, being on your own for weeks at a time _sucked_. Yuna raised an eyebrow at my cheery disposition.  
  
“Hi, yourself,” Yuna said bemused. “I’m Yuna.”  
  
I held my palm out with a ten-dollar coin sitting on top of it, and Yuna looked down at it before looking back up with a raised eyebrow.  
  
“I’m not here for sex.” I smiled easily, “I was hoping you could answer, say three questions for this coin, how does that sound?”  
  
Yuna tilted her head curiously before nodding. I grinned at her before flipping the coin into the air and snatching it before again before it could drop too far.  
  
“Question number one,” I said cheerfully, “ _Who_ is the current King?”  
  
Yuna blinked in surprise but answered immediately.  
  
“Kakeru Tsuki,” Yuna said amusedly. “Is this a game of some sort? There is no way you don’t know that already.”  
  
I just grinned at her and flipped the coin up into the air before snatching it once more.  
  
“ _Where_ is the Prince?” I asked cheerfully. “Is he still in the land of the moon or did he go off on another trip?”  
  
Yuna glanced up the alleyway in thought, before answering more hesitantly.  
  
“Prince Michiru left the village, uh, about a week or so ago?” Yuna said not sounding very sure. “I’m not sure on the exact date, sorry.”  
  
I just grinned again, before repeating the coin flip.  
  
“Final question.” I said cheerfully, “ _When_ do you think he will return to the Land of the Moon?”  
  
I would have to take her answer with a grain of salt, but then again I couldn’t really expect _everybody_ to know what the prince's schedule was but even an estimate would be useful, however. Yuna bit her lip in thought, distracting me for a moment.  
  
“I don’t know.” Yuna said thoughtfully, “Prince Michiru goes on trips like this frequently, last year he was gone for two months if that’s any help?”  
  
I smiled at her.  
  
“That’s good enough for me, Yuna,” I said happily, before flipping the coin over to her.  
  
Yuna fumbled to catch it for a second before giggling.  
  
“Not the usual way I make my money,” Yuna said amused while looking up through her eyelashes at me. “Sure I can’t interest you in something else?”

* * *

I left the alley thirty moon dollars lighter and feeling a little bit guilty.  
  
Kakeru was still the king, Prince Michiru left on a trip some time ago, and Shabadaba was still alive, this meant one of two things. Either this was the year _before_ the events of the movie, which meant that I could have an entire _year_ of training before I needed to be worried about ninjas turning up _or_ Shabadaba was about to send ninjas after the King, and Team Seven Minus Sasuke Plus Lee would be here _very_ soon.  
  
I left the city quickly after that, I needed to get back to training.

* * *

It had to have been at least a month since I had first woken up on the beach and almost a week since I’d found out about the possibility of the incoming ninja. Nothing had happened yet, at least nothing I had noticed, but if it _was_ happening this year it must have been getting close to the coup.  
  
I had been mindlessly grinding almost nonstop since then, only stopping occasionally to head into the city and check if anything of note had happened yet. I actually found a stall that was willing to buy some of the many uncooked fish that I had stashed in my inventory, still freshly preserved.  
  
It was a mediocre source of money at best, but it was something.  
  
I used it to buy some of the local clothing and an even pair of the sandals that everyone here seemed to wear. It made me feel strangely safer wearing their clothes like it would allow me to go beneath the notice of watching eyes if I only looked like them. I still got some glances, but I was putting it down to being a bit taller than most.  
  
Fine, I visited Yuna again, I won’t lie.  
  
Moving past that, I had finally gotten somewhere with Line Spear, whatever the skill used to decide how far it penetrated had to include some form of _hidden_ kinetic damage rating because I could actually shatter a tiny amount of the bark on one of the many trees on the island now.  
  
I had been trying to work my way up to trying it on my foot again, I really wanted to know what kind of damage it would do to a person, only I was a complete wuss when it came to pain and It was a struggle to work my way up to shooting myself again. If it cracked and broke a few layers of tree bark it was likely to punch through _several_ layers of my _not_ exceptionally durable skin.  
  
I _did_ have Heal in case it went badly, though.  
  
“Stop being such a pussy and just do it,” I muttered.  
  
I toggled Iron Hide off, took a deep breath, and then shot myself in the foot.  
  
“Fuck!” I hissed at the sudden sharp pain.  
  
Line Spear had dug a tiny, _perfectly_ round hole, about as thick as pencil lead, and at most three-or-four millimeters into the top of my foot. The tiny hole was rapidly welling with blood, as a small notification had popped up in the corner of my vision.  
  
-1 HP  
  
The hole sealed shut a second later as my HP ticked back up to full, leaving my foot bloody but otherwise unharmed. I stared down at the blood on my foot, all that training for exactly one damage. I wasn’t _anywhere_ near as durable as a tree was, not yet anyway and I was quite sure that Hidan was _far_ more durable than any _regular_ tree.  
  
I sighed, it was progressing.  
  
I toggled Iron Hide back on and dropped into Meditation. I used Line Spear six times before I was out of mana, and then I waited for meditation to drag my mana above the threshold, just before Iron Hide could steal the last of my mana again.  
  
I fell into thought once more, but this time about the type of combat ninja’s preferred.  
  
They were all close combat fighters to _some_ degree, with different levels of range attacks, from kunai to jutsu. I would need to develop some kind of hand to hand mastery or do my best to just avoid it for as long as possible.  
  
Ninjas tended to have great mobility, they could leap massive distance, hop from tree to tree, run up walls, and even over the top of the water. I needed to create the mana equivalent of wall running and water walking in case I ever had to fight in that kind of environment. Especially if I needed to get off this island without a boat. That would be something for tomorrow however, today I would do my best to become the man who could put a hole through a tree.

* * *

Two days later something finally happened.  
  
I was heading to the city to visit Yuna again, only to find that almost everybody was hiding in their houses. I had immediately retreated and dropped into stealth the moment I realized something was going on. Soldiers and guards were moving throughout the city, hundreds of them at least, all engaging in lethal battles with one another while there was grey smoke curling up into the sky from the other side of the island, close to where the large round towers of the castle peaked up over the trees.  
  
This had to be the start of Shabadaba’s coup.  
  
I was still only level one, as I had failed to find any way to earn EXP since I had woken up here, my stats were a fair bit higher than the laborers now, but I had no chance of fighting any of these elite guards or soldiers, not with level fifties plus running around.  
  
I would have to remain hidden as best I could.  
  
I felt a spike of worry race up my spine as I realized that it was now highly likely that there were _three_ ninjas on the island. They could be watching me right now and I wouldn’t even know until I was already dead. I would have to stop training in any way that might reveal that I had ‘chakra’ to them, at least while they were possibly in the city because if they saw me and assumed I was a ninja of some kind they would probably attack first and ask questions later. I should have developed some kind of sensory skill for this exact scenario, why hadn’t I done that already?  
  
 _Fuck._  
  
I would have to stay out of the city for a while then, at least until the fighting died down and the population started going outside again. When Team Seven Minus Sasuke Plus Lee had arrived here in the movie I was fairly sure nobody had been fighting openly at that point. The coup had already succeeded by then, and the King was squirreled away, injured, and dying in the mountain.  
  
The three Shinobi would likely remain close to Shabadaba as well, at least until they had news of Michiru’s return, how long would that be? It couldn’t be more than a couple of days at most, the King had been still alive when they got there.  
  
I quietly returned to my camp.  
  
I spent the better part of two hours trying to figure out how to go about creating a sensory skill that wouldn’t alert the ninjas that I was here. I had no idea if one of them was a sensory type and letting out a burst of mana like some kind of echolocator could bring them right to me if they could feel my energy.  
  
I knew that Nagato had some kind of sensory rain jutsu, but that seemed very un-stealthy and likely very costly. Naruto could sense everything around him while he was in Sage Mode, something to do with nature chakra I think, and that Yamanaka dude had a Cerebro-type machine that he used to keep track all the ninja during the war.  
  
Karin had some kind of inborn ability to sense chakra from a far distance away, could I do the same if I tried to focus on things with energy? Civilians had chakra in this world, not a lot judging by most of their stats, but it wasn’t _just_ ninjas.  
  
If I tried to focus on the people hiding in the houses within the city it might work. I assumed that a sensory skill would come from the brain, I had no idea _which_ part of the brain, so my best bet was to just push chakra into my head and hope I didn’t explode.  
  
An hour later I still hadn’t exploded, but I did, however, finally unlock the ability to sense ‘energy.’  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Energy Sense!  
  
I hoped that chakra was included under the term ‘Energy.’

* * *

Energy Sense (Level 1) – Sense energy around the user.  
Type – Toggle.  
Cast Time – Instant.  
Target – Self.  
Cost – 21(25) Mana per second.

  * Sense energy signatures within 5m (+5 per level.)
  * Understanding increases with skill level.
  * Grants EXP while Energy Sense is active.



* * *

_Incredible_ , now I would be able to tell if someone were standing _directly_ behind me, for a _substantial_ mana cost.  
  
Despite my complaints, I toggled it on anyway before I dropped into Meditate to ensure I could leave it on for now. The first thing I realized was that I now knew where every tree within five meters of me was located.  
  
There was enough chakra in them to faintly register to the skill.  
  
I imagine the chakra networks of _people_ would light up like a Christmas tree, I could feel tiny little things moving around within my range, but they were uh, blurry? For lack of a better term.  
  
Energy Sense is now level 2.  
  
The range suddenly increased, and I could sense even more trees, along with what I now knew had to be a small lizard of some kind, it didn’t feel _too_ different from the trees, but it was a much more condensed form of energy. My mana remained rather steady with the help of Meditate, so I starting adding Iron Hide into the mix occasionally to try and train them both at the same time.  
  
Energy Sense is now level 3.  
  
I felt my range expand again, and even smaller creatures that I had overlooked before appeared within my perception, one of those things had to be a large insect of some kind, and it was disgusting long and wiggly.  
  
Gross.  
  
If I could get this skill to a hundred-meter range I might even start feeling safe again, but that was an exceptionally long way off. Either way, nobody had come running up to kick my ass, and I was using a great deal of my mana every second. If they couldn’t sense this much mana being used _constantly_ I was probably going to be fine.  
  
Whether that was because they weren’t sensor types, it wasn’t enough energy for them to feel, or they were simply too far away, I wasn’t sure.  
  
I took a risk, jamming my finger down into the sand and cast Line Spear a single time, a little puff of sand skipped away from my finger as is dug a thin tunnel in the loose material. Almost a hundred mana in one go, if that didn’t alert them then I was going to keep training.  
  
Several hours passed and nobody had turned up, despite my constant usage of Line Spear with my finger buried in the sand. So I decided to keep on training like normal, although I _did_ move further down the beach and away from the city, it was better to be safe than dead.

* * *

I made a very careful trip to the edge of the city every day to see if anything big was happening but as far as I could tell from outside the city, it was becoming calmer by the day. The fighting seemed to have mostly died down after the first night, although I did spot a small fight break out near the docks.  
  
By the third day, people were moving around outside again, trying their best to go about their business despite the fear that was pervading the city. The soldiers that had been everywhere in the wake of the fight had finally started to disappear back to wherever their barracks were located at the castle, and I saw a family dragged out of their houses at one point before they were taken up to the castle. Hours later that still hadn’t returned and I stayed in the trees like a coward, feeling terrible because of it.  
  
I spent some time sneaking around the mountainous area of the island, and when I got close enough I could see some of the King’s remaining guards patrolling the area. The King would be hiding somewhere in a stone chamber in the mountain, slowly dying from his wounds. I could most likely heal him if they didn’t try to kill me on sight, but I wasn’t about to take the chance while all of the remaining guards were there and likely keyed up on adrenaline.  
  
I would have a chance when team seven arrived, whoever was watching the docks would likely tell the King’s guards about the ninjas arriving with Prince Michiru. The remaining guards would end up staging a rescue at the castle when Shabadaba ganked Michiru. I would be able to slip in and talk to the king while that was all going down, Heal him back to full health before he died, and try to see if I could cure his stone affliction. Hopefully, I would get some goodwill out of it, and passage the island, all I had to do was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 1  
> Health Points - 390/390  
> Mana Points - 717/717  
> Vitality 39 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 43 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 49 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 23 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 18 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 62 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.50 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 10.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 11.25 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 8.75 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 10.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 53  
> Perception Rating - 23  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.


	6. Dreaming of Doctors

I spotted a large wooden ship with two masts on either end out on the ocean the next day and when I observed it Prince Michiru’s name was right there in the middle of the summary. My time was up, and I would be making my move as soon as they docked.  
  
The ship took its time coming in and I was on edge the entire time, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Rock Lee were all on that ship. If I saw them in the flesh I wondered if this would feel more or less weird than it did now.  
  
When the ship was a couple of minutes away from docking I turned towards the treeline and immediately got a notification.

* * *

Quest Unlocked  
Save the King.  
Reward - ???  
Failure - Capture, Death.

* * *

I grit my teeth, why had it appeared _now_? If I hadn’t figured any of this out, would I have still gotten the quest randomly? Or was it because I was moving to start it? I started making my way back to where the King was hidden and the instant I felt one of the guards randomly appear on the edge of my range I immediately dropped down into stealth.  
  
 _Sneaky_ guard.  
  
I slowly made my way closer but stayed amongst the trees, there were only six guards left in total, although one of the signatures was a lot stronger than the others, that would probably be the captain guy. The King's own signature was weak and warped from the chest downwards as it slowly faded.  
  
I heard someone coming before I saw them, they weren’t exactly being stealthy.  
  
“The Prince is back!” A plain-clothed man called excitedly when he rushed out of the trees.  
  
The guards all huddled around him and spoke in harsh tones before one disappeared inside to speak with the king. Almost five minutes passed before the man stepped back out and brought his men into another huddle. Something of an argument broke out, and I caught some words that led me to believe they were arguing about whether or not they should leave someone behind to look after the King.  
  
The same stronger signature ducked back into the chamber and returned within thirty seconds this time shaking his head and putting an end to the argument. They all packed up their equipment and headed into the trees in the direction of the city, and the plain-clothed man went with them.  
  
I felt them leave with my energy sense and waited another minute before stepping out of the bushes and slowly making my way up to the chamber. I took my time in case the King yelled out or something when I entered, but he didn’t even notice me until I was halfway across the room.  
  
“Who are you?” Kakeru Tsuki, King of the Land of the Moon rasped out from his bed. “Have you come to kill me?”  
  
I shook my head and kneeled sat down next to his bed.  
  
“Nope,” I said easily, “and my name is Sora.”  
  
I Observed him silently and read through it all quickly.

* * *

Name: Kakeru Tsuki  
Title: King  
Gender: Male.  
Age: 64  
Level: 20  
Next Level: 17.75%  
Health Points - 35/240  
Chakra Points - 10/10  
Vitality 24  
Strength 21  
Speed 22  
Perception 29  
Intelligence 63  
Chakra 1  
Status Effects: Petrified.  
Emotions: Despair. Hopelessness. Sadness.  
History: Kakeru Tsuki became the King when he was incredibly young after his father died during an ongoing conflict. Kakeru is a benevolent man whose youth shaped him into a kind and generous King. Kakeru seeks to raise his people's standard of living and hopes to eliminate poverty in the Land of the Moon. Kakeru has a son Michiru, and a grandson, Hikaru.

* * *

I expanded the prompt for status effects.

* * *

Petrified - The afflicted body is pervasively turned to stone.  
Effect: Paralysed affected body parts, damage scales depending on the location of petrification.  
Afflicted Area: Lower half.

* * *

I assumed that it meant that the damage changed based on which organs were turned to stone. If his heart were petrified he would probably be dead in under a minute, but just his legs only did enough damage for him to die slowly of the course of a couple of days, what a horrible way to go.  
  
“You are probably going to die in the next hour if nothing is done.” I said honestly, “Do I have your permission to heal you?”  
  
I moved my hand to hover over his chest and the man watched me with sharp eyes but made no move to stop me, whether through weakness or trust I didn’t know.  
  
“You have my permission,” Kakeru said weakly.  
  
I cast Heal and slowly starting feeding Mana into the spell, making sure it didn’t interact weirdly with the petrification in any way.  
  
“Oh.” Kakeru rasped, “Are you one of the ninja escorting my son?”  
  
I shook my head again.  
  
“No,” I said simply. “I’m not a ninja at all. At least I don’t think so, anyway. I found myself on this island over a month ago, with no memory of how I arrived here, or of anything else really.”  
  
Kakeru watched me quietly, and I could see his face becoming less pale with every passing second as his health ticked upwards. I used my other hand to push the blanket covering his body out of the way. The man’s entire lower half, from halfway up the right side of his chest down to his toes, was entirely made of a cracked and chipped stonelike material.  
  
There was dried blood where the stone met his flesh, and I had absolutely no idea how he wasn’t dead yet. Heal had done absolutely nothing to cure the petrification either, and his health was already ticking very slowly down again. I would need to make a cure spell of some kind, luckily enough for me, there were hundreds of those in video games I could try and emulate.  
  
“How did you come to find me here?” Kakeru said quietly, sounding much more aware of his surroundings now.  
  
I lost my train of thought around the point that I remembered ‘Esuna’ from final fantasy, it removed petrify in _one_ of the games along with basically everything else, and it was cheap to cast. This probably meant that here it would cost way too much here, at least judging by everything else I’d tried to make so far.  
  
“I saw the fighting in the city, and noticed some men guarding this area, they left so I thought I would check it out.” I said distractedly, “Who are you anyway, and what’s going on here exactly?”  
  
Kakeru’s health finally reached maxed out, his skin was no longer pale and had a healthy shine to it, although he now had a pained grimace on his face, I’m glad he was the one on the bed and not me, it looked pretty painful. I moved my hand down to rest against the petrified area and started pushing mana into my hand.  
  
Kakeru was silent as he studied my face carefully.  
  
“I am King Kakeru Tsuki of the Land of the Moon.” Kakeru said simply, “There was an attempt by my minister, Shabadaba, to kill me.”  
  
I glanced up at his face feigning curiosity.  
  
“Shabadaba? What a silly name,” I said amused, “Do _all_ Kings in the Land of the Moon have stone legs Or is it just a Kakeru thing?”  
  
Kakeru huffed out a breath in what might have been either amusement or annoyance, he was rather hard to read if I was being honest.  
  
“It is a Kakeru thing, as you say. Shabadaba hired three ninjas to kill me, one of them did this with some kind of ninja technique coming from his hand.” Kakeru said dryly, “Whatever you have used to heal me, I feel much more alive than before, but the pain has returned along with it.”  
  
I nodded easily.  
  
“Sorry Kakeru, I can’t do anything about the pain, but I’m going to try something to deal with this,” I said simply, gesturing to the stone affliction. “I’ll need a moment to concentrate.”  
  
“Very well,” Kakeru said simply. “Do as you will, I will persevere.”  
  
“That’s the spirit,” I said belatedly, already deep in thought.  
  
I was repeating a mantra in my head while I focused as much mana as I could into my hand.  
  
Esuna, Remove, Status Effect, Esuna, Remove, Status Effect.  
  
I continued for almost ten minutes before my mana finally twisted into an incredibly complicated pattern and began to glow with translucent white light. I felt what had to be just under a third of my mana vanish in an instant and I blinked in surprise at the sheer cost of it.  
  
I stared down at the stone legs that were still there, and the tiny patch that had returned to normal flesh and cloth, I immediately toggled Meditate on.

* * *

Status Removal (Level 1) – Use mana to remove status effects.  
Type – Cast.  
Cast Time – 49.75(60) seconds.  
Target – Self, Other.  
Cost – 191.25 Mana.

  * Exchange 200 Mana to lower durability of Status Effect by 1(+1 per level.)
  * Can exchange up to maximum Mana for increased effect.



* * *

I stared at the cast time despairingly.  
  
“Kakeru,” I said resignedly, “This is going to take a while.”  
  
Kakeru huffed again, and I thought it may have been amusement after all.  
  
“My idea of fixing you up and running away before your men return is looking like a complete failure.” I continued dryly, “I’ll have to ask you to stop them from killing me if you please.”  
  
“You are a very odd man.” Kakeru said bemused, “I will of course ensure that you come to no harm from my men, it’s the least I can do for you, given what you are undertaking.”  
  
“Thanks, buddy,” I said wryly, “This sounds like the start of a beautiful friendship.”  
  
Kakeru huffed out another raspy laugh.  
  
“Feel like telling me about the Land of the Moon while I regain my energy?” I asked curiously, “I’ve only been into the city a few times since I got here, I mostly just stick to the beach or the forest.”  
  
Kakeru gave me a brief rundown on what things were like here from a very top-down view, mostly how it _was_ at least before this Shabadaba nonsense had started. I listened curiously while Meditating until I had around six-hundred mana to triple cast Status Removal again, doing a whopping three points of damage to the Petrification.  
  
Status Removal is now level 2!  
  
It took three casts until it leveled up, which seemed to be quite common, although not universally so for my other skills. Some of them must have had larger EXP requirements to level up or something else funky was going on because they were much slower. Either way the tiny area the spell covered became slightly larger.  
  
Kakeru had just finished explaining what had kicked off this entire shitshow in the first place. Apparently, he had been planning to turn a section of the city outskirts into housing for the poor, and Shabadaba didn’t like the idea of all of that money going to the commoners.  
  
“Kakeru,” I said bemused, “This Shabadaba guy sounds like a total asshole, why were you friends with him for so long?”  
  
Kakeru gave another of his raspy laughs, he seemed to find almost everything I said amusing for some reason, I had no idea why though. It had to of been at least half an hour by now, and I had only managed to remove a patch about the size of my hand from his hip. I was probably only a few casts off the next level if my guess was correct, but this was going to take _all_ night at this rate.  
  
“He wasn’t always like this,” Kakeru said quietly, “I have known him for four decades now, he has been growing more resentful of late, I suppose this is the culmination of that resentment.”  
  
I felt really bad for the guy.  
  
“That’s pretty messed up, Kakeru,” I said honestly, shaking my head. “I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have known someone that long and have them suddenly turn on you.”  
  
Status Removal is now level 3!  
  
Kakeru didn’t say anything for a long moment, so I attempted to distract him from his no-doubt depressing thoughts.  
  
“Hey, Kakeru. I met this hottie in your city called Yuna-” I started cheekily, before stopping.  
  
Energy signatures were stepping into my range, one by one. One of them was massive, easily the biggest thing I had ever felt, tightly coiled and densely packed. Another smaller signature stepped in next glowing brightly, and another after that brighter than the last but strangely twisted.  
  
They were all dwarfed by the last one.  
  
If the first one was massive and controlled, this one was a _sun_ to my senses, vast, dense, and burning brightly, that had to be Naruto.  
  
“Your men are back,” I said distractedly as they approached the entrance.  
  
Kakeru turned his head to stare at the entrance with a raised eyebrow as a tall, wide-shouldered man with short shaved brown hair stepped into the chamber. The man wore grey armor, carried a sword of some kind at his hip, and was staring straight at me with anger in his eyes, the level above his head was daunting.

* * *

Korega (Level 59)  
Captain of the Land of the Moon Military

* * *

Korega started towards me in an instant, sword halfway out of its sheath already and the signature that I assumed was Kakashi had abruptly split into two smaller ones, and one of them vanished from the entrance to reappear above us with untraceable speed, crouched in the shadows against the ceiling. I didn’t make any motion that might indicate that I knew he was there, but the speed of his movement was startling.  
  
“Korega, be calm.” Kakeru said calmly, “He is a friend.”  
  
Korega stilled in his advance and hesitated for a long moment, before slowly sliding his saber back into its sheath, he stared at me for a little while longer before finally bowing to the king.  
  
“Kakeru-sama,” Korega said seriously, “We engaged Shabadaba’s forces at the castle and have recovered your son and grandson, they have brought ninja from Konoha with them, we would have most likely been overrun if not for their efforts.”  
  
Kakeru sagged back onto his bed in relief at the news, and I could hear the voices that were echoing in from the entrance growing louder. Two weak signatures and the rest of the ninja started to move into the chamber, while the rest of them stay outside to stand guard.  
  
“Father!” Michiru shouted worriedly.  
  
Michiru was a really big dude, overweight for sure, but his arms had large muscles, easily visible through the layers of thick skin. He charged into the chamber, followed closely by his son Hikaru, a short boy with dark hair and round glasses, and both of them ignored me entirely as they knelt beside Kakeru’s head.  
  
I reached full mana and triple-casted the spell again.  
  
Status Removal is now level 4!  
  
I felt the Kakashi on the roof tense at the sudden appearance of white light, but he made to move to murder me, so I did my best to ignore him. Michiru and Hikaru were both rambling on over the top of what Kakeru was trying to say. The King looked equal parts annoyed and relieved at their sudden verbal cascade upon him. The Kakashi that was still on the ground stepped forward to lean against the wall, watching us both silently.  
  
“How did he come to be turned to stone?” Kakashi asked calmly, while the King was distracted.  
  
I heard Sakura make an alarming noise from behind me before she stepped forward to look at what I was doing, she made some quick motions with her fingers before a pale green light appeared under her hands and she pressed it down onto Kakeru’s legs.  
  
I Observed her silently before answering.

* * *

Name: Haruno Sakura  
Title: Leaf Genin  
Gender: Female  
Age: 13  
Level: 83  
Next Level: 19.82%  
Health Points - 900/900  
Chakra Points - 590/650  
Vitality 90  
Strength 80  
Speed 65  
Perception 85  
Intelligence 90  
Chakra 65  
Status Effects:  
Emotions: Excitement. Determination. Worry.  
  
History: Haruno Sakura was born in the Land of Fire, she is a member of Team 7 and is currently training to become a medical ninja under Tsunade of the Sannin.

* * *

“Kakeru said that three ninjas were hired to kill him a day or so ago,” I said easily, “One of them had a technique with one of his hands that petrified whatever he touched, turning it to stone.”  
  
Level eighty-three? Wow, my estimates were off entirely, I had thought that the higher end Genin would be below that level. Kakashi let out a quiet hum of understanding, but Sakura was the first to speak.  
  
“How is he still alive?” Sakura said seriously, “The petrification is deeper than just the skin, its completely pervasive, his blood circulation would have been completely blocked to his waist and legs.”  
  
“He was almost dead when I found him,” I admitted, “Maybe an hour left at most, I managed to mostly heal him, but this petrification is proving much more difficult to deal with.”  
  
“How on earth did you ‘heal’ him?” Sakura said strangely, “All the damage at the point of petrification is still there, his blood circulation is still blocked. How long was he like this?”  
  
“A couple of days I guess,” I said distractedly.  
  
I didn’t actually know exactly _when_ he had been ganked, I cast Status Removal again and Sakura jumped at the sudden burst of white light, canceling her own technique in surprise.  
  
“Days!?” Sakura said sharply. “and what was that technique just now?”  
  
I noted that neither of the Kakashi’s moved this time, which was interesting. Only the one on the roof had seen me do it, so the one against the wall was restraining his reaction entirely to follow the lead of the one above.  
  
Silent communication of some kind? Hand gestures maybe?  
  
“I’m nullifying the petrification in that area,” I said easily, “It takes me a little while to recover from, but I’m getting better at it.”  
  
“How are you _nullifying_ it?” Sakura asked seriously, “It is for all intents and purposes _stone_ at this point, all of the lingering chakra from the technique is _gone_ , are you somehow transforming the stone back into flesh?”  
  
I had no idea how it worked if I were being honest, but I didn’t think she would take that very well. If I said yes, she would want to know how I was doing that, which I wouldn’t be able to explain at all.  
  
“This is a strange technique,” I said slowly, “It picks up on what the target should look like in perfect condition, and then reverts the targeted area to that condition.”  
  
That was pretty much true, the spell was based on Esuna, which could do all manner of weird things to reverse status effects. It could cure ‘sadness’, ‘petrification’, transformations spells, and a bunch of other stuff. Somehow it knew what was supposed to be there and then made it better.  
  
Magical nonsense at its best.  
  
“What?” Sakura said weakly. “I could maybe remove the chakra and possibly revert the effects if it was fresh, but this is _days_ old, it’s just _stone_ at this point, you shouldn’t be able to affect it at all!”  
  
I didn’t answer, mostly because I had no fucking idea what to say. People didn’t usually explain their techniques to random people anyway, did they? I should just keep the mechanics of my skills to myself, probably.  
  
“Who are you, anyway?” I said pointedly. “You seem to know some stuff about how _this_ stuff is supposed to work.”  
  
Sakura straightened suddenly before looking somewhat sheepish.  
  
“My name is Haruno Sakura, I’m a Genin from Konohagakure.” Sakura said formally, “I don’t know very much yet, but I’m training to be a medical ninja.”  
  
I made a noise of understanding in my throat, before casting Status Removal again.  
  
“Who are you?” Sakura said curiously.  
  
“My name is Sora, I am _not_ a ninja from Konohagakure,” I said cheekily, “I know everything there is to know about all of the things, and I am _not_ training to be a medical ninja.”  
  
Sakura frowned at the vague introduction, while Kakashi let out an amused hum from behind his mask.  
  
“You sound just like Sensei,” Sakura muttered.  
  
I glanced up at Kakashi who was still watching us silently and used the moment to Observe him as well.

* * *

Name: Hatake Kakashi  
Title: Kakashi of the Sharingan  
Gender: Male  
Age: 27  
Level: 214  
Next Level: 56.32%  
Health Points - 1900/1900  
Chakra Points – 1800/1800  
Vitality 190  
Strength 200  
Speed 250  
Perception 115  
Intelligence 135  
Chakra 180  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Suspicion. Regret.  
  
History: Hatake Kakashi was born in the Land of Fire. He is the son of Konoha’s White Fang, and a ninja genius known across the world. He has suffered many losses in his life and does his best to keep his allies alive, he is the leader of Team Seven.

* * *

I stared at the level for a long moment, while pretending to think about what she had said. Level two-hundred-and-fourteen?! I was only level _one_ goddammit, I needed to get some EXP immediately, or I was going to die.  
  
“You would be the ‘Sensei’ that Sakura is refereeing too?” I asked distractedly.  
  
Sakura looked at me strangely when I said her name, but I’m not sure why.  
  
“You would be correct.” Kakashi said easily, “I am Hatake Kakashi, Jounin of Konohagakure.”  
  
I nodded easily.  
  
“Pleased to meet you, Kakashi,” I said honestly.  
  
Kakashi tilted his head at his name, still looking amused.  
  
Why did everybody keep giving me weird looks when I called them by their names? Whatever, I would just ignore it. I could see Naruto and Lee moving closer to us now, having been hovering around the entrance talking. Korega chose that moment to speak up as well, giving the Konoha ninja a rundown on how things had gotten to this point.  
  
I listened idly, it was pretty much what Kakeru had told me already, although there was a lot more anger from Korega, it was interesting actually interesting hearing the same story told by such vastly different people, one a King, and one a military captain. Kakeru had humanized Shabadaba while Korega was making him into a monstrous power-hungry menace.  
  
Michiru and Hikaru finally quietened down enough for Kakeru to renter the discussion.  
  
“I had been planning on stepping down as King once this situation had resolved itself,” Kakeru said seriously, glancing at his son. “Now would be a good a time as any to make the transition.”  
  
Michiru called his father’s name in alarm before pulling back to stare at him in shock.  
  
“Shinobi of Konoha,” Kakeru said quietly. “I know I have no right to ask this of you.”  
  
Kakashi pushed off the wall and turned to kneel before the King.  
  
“Sir?” Kakashi said seriously.  
  
“We do not have the manpower to overcome Shabadaba’s forces.” Kakeru pleaded, “I would ask that you take my son and grandson away from here and protect them, please.”  
  
“Of course, your majesty,” Kakashi said quietly.  
  
“Father!” Michiru said in alarm, “You can come _with_ us, there is no reason for you to stay here!”  
  
“I cannot move from here Michiru,” Kakeru said simply, “Shabadaba’s shinobi may well find us before the night is through, I will remain here while you all escape.”  
  
“ _Father!_ ” Michiru pleaded.  
  
“Sora, you should leave as well.” Kakeru said firmly, “I will not have such a kind young man caught up in a mess that has nothing to do with him.”  
  
“Nope,” I said immediately.  
  
Kakeru blinked at the abrupt denial, he must be pretty used to people saying yes to him, he was a King after all, but I had never been good at taking orders though.  
  
“Listen, Kakeru.” I said amused, “I decided I was going to fix you up, so that’s what I’m going to do, if these ninjas want to take you with them, we can just carry you or something, it’s not a big deal.”  
  
Someone made a startled noise when I said the man’s name, but I ignored it.  
  
“I’ll tag along and keep working on you in the meantime,” I said easily.  
  
Everyone remained silent for a long moment before Michiru made a happy noise.  
  
“See father!” Michiru said happily, tears in his eyes. “You can come with us!”  
  
“Grandfather, please come with us,” Hikaru said quietly.  
  
Kakeru gave me an annoyed glance and then sighed.  
  
“Very well, It would be foolish to turn away your help after you have offered it so freely,” Kakeru said quietly and closed his eyes. “Korega, I leave this situation up to you.”  
  
The light that was barely illuminating the chamber was gone now, and if I had to guess it would be dark outside. I listened idly as Korega and Kakashi came up with a plan of action, something to do with boats and a ship waiting out on the water.  
  
Nobody made any mention of what to do if the ninja showed up, so I spoke up.  
  
“What should we do when the other ninja gank us?” I asked curiously but Kakashi tilted his head at the term.  
  
“Gank?” Kakashi murmured.  
  
“Surprise attack us.” I clarified immediately, whoops.  
  
“You think they will attack us?” Kakashi said seriously.  
  
There was something off with his tone, he had to know that there was a chance of that happening, but yet he was asking as if it had never even occurred to him, was he messing with me?  
  
“From the perspective of the enemy, the best time to attack us would be when we are out in the open and carrying wounded.” I said easily, “If we assume these are competent ninja, that is probably when they will attack. They must be keeping track of anything suspicious going on given the situation, and boats approaching the beach all sneaky like will set them off.”  
  
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.  
  
“That’s an interesting way to look at things, putting yourself in the position of the enemy and modeling their best course of action.” Kakashi said curiously, “You _could_ go a step further, however.”  
  
I tilted my head at him, trying to add another layer to it. If the enemy was modeling _us_ as a competent ninja team, and a handful of soldiers trying to protect civilians, hell they might even assume that the king was still alive, but grievously wounded. If they assumed that we were hiding somewhere on the island protecting the king, and they knew about the ninja they might try to be sneaky about it and try to sabotage us in some way first.  
  
Oh, I glanced up at Kakashi with narrowed eyes.  
  
“You really think I would try to infiltrate this group, heal the king, and only to reveal that I was secretly an enemy ninja all this time just looking for an opportunity to gank you?” I said annoyed.  
  
There was an intake of breath from behind me.  
  
“What?!” Naruto said alarmed, from directly behind me. “You’re an enemy ninja?!”  
  
I just sighed.  
  
“Do I _look_ like an enemy ninja to you?” I said annoyed.  
  
Naruto didn’t get a chance to reply.  
  
“A mysterious figure that none of the guards here have seen before, sneaks into the wounded King’s hideout, he quickly establishes himself as indispensable to the King and cannot be removed easily,” Kakashi said quietly, “He can undo an unknown ninjas petrification technique that even a medic-nin thinks is hopeless, while not knowing enough of the terminology to _fake_ being a medical ninja himself. So instead he reveals a strange technique that only removes a tiny amount of the petrification at a time, giving him ample time to stick around.”  
  
When he said it like that it sounded almost reasonable.  
  
“So it’s true!” Naruto said loudly.  
  
I sagged under the metaphorical weight of the accusation while Sakura tried to calm him down to no avail.  
  
“Kakeru, do I look like the guy who did this to you?” I said resignedly.  
  
Kakeru cracked his eyes open and looked almost amused.  
  
“No,” Kakeru said honestly, “The two of you look nothing alike.”  
  
“Oh,” Naruto said sheepishly.  
  
“Ninja have techniques to change what they look like,” Kakashi said easily. “Your majesty.”  
  
I frowned at him, almost sure he was just fucking with me at this point.  
  
“Gah!” Naruto noised loudly, “Is he a bad guy or not?!”  
  
“If you think I’m changing my appearance, just do whatever you ninja do to disrupt it,” I said immediately.  
  
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, before actually moving forward to take me up on the offer. Seriously? Was he fucking with me or not, I honestly couldn’t tell. Kakashi placed his hand on my shoulder and I felt him pulse his chakra through Energy Sense.  
  
“Kai,” Kakashi said belatedly.  
  
“Hah,” I said smugly when I remained exactly as I was.  
  
Kakashi hummed again, and I turned to look at him with narrowed eyes, don’t you dare asshole.  
  
“It _could_ be a wig, and makeup as well,” Kakashi said amused.  
  
“You must be shorter than I initially thought, Kakashi.” I said annoyed, “Because you are reaching so hard.”  
  
Kakashi snorted at the terrible joke, I took it as an admission of his defeat.  
  
“Heh, it’s the way his hair sticks up.” Naruto commiserated, as he came to sit down next to me.  
  
I hit him with a quick Observe.

* * *

Name: Uzumaki Naruto  
Title: Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Beast  
Gender: Male  
Age: 13  
Level: 102  
Next Level: 12.62%  
Health Points - 2100/2100  
Chakra Points - 15790/15790  
Vitality 210  
Strength 118  
Speed 110  
Perception 72  
Intelligence 50  
Chakra 1579  
Status Effects:  
Emotions: Sadness. Excitement. Determination.  
  
History: Naruto Uzumaki was born in the Land of Fire. He is an orphan who due to his status as a Jinchuriki was disliked and feared by the people of Konoha. His childhood was lonely, and he struggled to make friends. He is a member of Team 7 and he dreams of being the Hokage.

* * *

Twenty levels above Sakura, but look at that Chakra stat, it was a result of Kurama, but his health was even higher than Kakashi.  
  
“My cute little student,” Kakashi said sadly, “How could this have happened?”  
  
“Hey, hey.” Naruto said curiously, “Who are you?  
  
“Sora,” I said easily, “Who are you?”  
  
“I’m Uzumaki Naruto!” Naruto declared. “Where did you come from?”  
  
I hummed in thought for a moment before answering.  
  
“I honestly have no idea.” I explained, “I woke up on the beach here about a month ago with no memory, I guess that means I must be from _this_ place. You’re from that Konoha place right?”  
  
“Yeah!” Naruto said curiously, “How do you know your name then?”  
  
I read it on the status page, I didn’t say.  
  
“I just picked the first thing I saw.” I said dryly, “Lucky for me I didn’t wake up face down, or you’d be calling me Suna.”  
  
“That’s awesome!” Naruto grinned. “That means I’d have woken up in a bowl of ramen!”  
  
I snorted.  
  
“What the hell did that Shabadaba guy wake up in?” I laughed.  
  
Naruto descended into giggles at the joke, and he even came up with a couple of his own before he brought the last member over and introduced me. His eyebrows were a little bit bushy and his haircut looked a little strange, but he was otherwise remarkably normal.  
  
I Observed him to collect them all.

* * *

Name: Rock Lee  
Title: Konoha's Green Beast  
Gender: Male  
Age: 14  
Level: 125  
Next Level: 49.95%  
Health Points - 1314/1314(1500)  
Chakra Points - 1/1070  
Vitality 175  
Strength 175  
Speed 200  
Perception 73  
Intelligence 52  
Chakra 1(107)  
Status Effects: Shattered Bones. Chakra Locked.  
Emotions: Hope. Determination. Excitement.  
  
History: Rock Lee was born in the Land of Fire. He is an orphan who is unable to use chakra externally due to a chakra mutation. He is a member of Team 9 and he wants to prove that he can be a splendid ninja despite his shortcomings.

* * *

“Naruto-kun!” Lee said cheerfully, “Sora-kun, I apologize for not introducing myself sooner, I am Rock Lee.”  
  
Lee bowed at the waist and I smiled up at the happy guy, he had been one of my favorite people from the show.  
  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Lee.” I said honestly, “You look like a strong ninja.”  
  
Lee grinned happily at the remark.  
  
“Thank you!” Lee said cheerfully. “I have only recently been able to start taking missions again, this is actually my first in a while.”  
  
He was a pretty open guy, huh.  
  
“Oh?” I asked curiously, “Were you injured, or did you get in trouble?”  
  
Lee looked sheepish for a moment and glanced over at where Kakashi was talking quietly to Korega.  
  
“Both.” Lee said honestly, “I got injured on an unsanctioned mission.”  
  
Naruto looked away at the reminder, that would indicate the Sasuke retrieval mission, probably. Lee’s health was reduced because of the ‘Shattered Bones’ status, some kind of left-over damage in his arm and leg from his first fight with Gaara, I could probably fix that with liberal uses of Status Removal. I might try and heal the guy later on if they let me.  
  
Kakashi stepped back into view and made a motion that brought the three younger ninjas over to where he was standing. Too far away for me to eavesdrop, so I didn’t bother trying.  
  
Looks like we had a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 1  
> Health Points - 390/390  
> Mana Points - 717/717  
> Vitality 39 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 43 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 49 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 23 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 18 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 62 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.50 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 10.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 11.25 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 8.75 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 10.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 53  
> Perception Rating - 23  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.


	7. Dreaming of Levels

The plan turned out to be pretty barebones, all things considered, but to make a short story shorter, we would be making our way down to the beach to get on a couple of boats.  
  
We would try to avoid making any noise while we were at it, and we would be moving slowly enough that we wouldn’t accidentally injury the King during transit. I would be riding along with the King, in the beat-up looking wagon that Korega and the others had used in their rescue attempt while continuing to work on his Petrification.  
  
Kakeru and I were already situated in the wagon, just waiting for the others to move out. I had managed to level Status Removal up to level six in the meantime and it was now doing six points of damage to the Petrification with every cast, and I had enough mana to charge it up to eighteen points of damage with a triple-cast. My basic mana recovery was just over ten mana per second now, while Meditate boosted that up to twenty-five per second. My maximum mana was sitting at just over seven hundred now, so I was making _significantly_ more progress with each cast.  
  
My recovery wasn’t the problem here though, it was the cast time, it took _fifty_ seconds until I could use it again after each cast. It was only an estimation but judging by how much damage I was currently doing to the Petrification and the rough size of ‘six’ durability I would say that the petrification had at least five-thousand durability? Probably more?  
  
That was roughly three-hundred Status Removals at eighteen points of damage.  
  
That was what, four hours of constant Status Removals at the current damage? It would speed up a great deal after another level or two as well. So I halved it and said it would take two hours until Kakeru was cured. It was a _very_ rough estimate at best, but it would have to do.  
  
I felt the wagon begin to move.  
  
“How are you doing, Kakeru?” I asked cheerfully.  
  
“I breathe without issue now,” Kakeru said honestly.  
  
“Good to hear,” I said simply, “We have a couple of hours left before you’re back in fighting shape though, so don’t go doing any flips or anything.”  
  
Kakeru huffed out a laugh, but my thoughts had taken me elsewhere. Why hadn’t I tried to unlock acrobatics or parkour? They were probably passives, right? Dammit.  
  
“Sora-kun, I’ve just realized that I have yet to thank you,” Kakeru said seriously. “You have undoubtedly saved my life.”  
  
I think that was the first time he had actually called me by name, aww, I knew he liked me under that Stoney exterior of his.  
  
“Don’t worry about it, buddy.” I said easily, “I wasn’t going to let you bleed out in there.”  
  
“Even so,” Kakeru said amused, “I owe you a great debt, and should we survive the night I will do my best to see it repaid.”  
  
That was the goodwill I was hoping for, I needed a way of getting exp, and sparring with his guards _might_ be a good way to do it.  
  
“How about once this is all over, you get your soldier guys to show me how to fight properly?” I asked hopefully, “I’m going to need to get a lot stronger if there are all these crazy ninja guys running around turning Kakeru’s to stone.”  
  
“Consider it done,” Kakeru said easily, amused at the simple request.  
  
“Thanks,” I said happily. “Say Kakeru, where do you think these ninjas came from anyway? The bad ones, not the Konoha ones.”  
  
I made sure to clarify just in case.  
  
“They are a group of wandering shinobi mercenaries most likely.” Kakeru said thoughtfully, “They carried no village symbol that I recall. Shabadaba has hired _many_ ninjas before at my behest for many reasons over the years, he has always tended to hire those not attached to the larger villages.”  
  
“Is there a ninja village on this island somewhere?” I asked curiously.  
  
Kakeru shook his head.  
  
“No,” Kakeru said simply, “Although many ninjas do pass through here, I have received several in my castle over the years, acting as ambassadors to the daimyo’s on the main continent, but there is no hidden village within the Land of the Moon.”  
  
Interesting.  
  
“So these naughty ninjas are pretty much only here because they are getting paid, they don’t have a secret grudge against you or something?” I wondered. “Chafing under Kakeru’s stone fist?”  
  
“No,” Kakeru said amused, “I don’t have any connection to these ninjas at all, and no grudge exists to the best of my knowledge.”  
  
I nodded thoughtfully, thinking about how that could be used to my advantage. If they were just doing it for the money, we could try to assassinate Shabadaba, and then they would have no reason to continue the mission. Wait didn’t one of the ninjas accidentally kill the client near the end of the mission anyway?  
  
We could probably offer to pay them off, I might even be able to get a bodyguard out of this somehow, which would be useful, at least until I was strong enough to make a difference anyway. I might be able to get Kakeru to pay for one of them.  
  
I couldn’t remember much about these ninjas, other than there was three of them and one of them could turn things to stone. I don’t remember them being _particularly_ evil, but they had certainly killed people during their mission, namely the King.  
  
Then again I’m fairly sure each of the Konoha Genin ended up killing someone during this mission, so neither of the ninja teams could claim to have the moral high ground there. Were the bad ninja close to each other or were they just working together for this mission? I vaguely remembered that they all wore similar wigs, which showed some kind of uniformity between them.  
  
I suppose it didn’t matter they would probably all end up dying anyway.

* * *

The trip down the mountain to the beach was a slow one, as we were doing our best not to make much noise. It took maybe an hour all up until we reached the point where we would have to ditch the wagon and I felt the wagon slow to a stop, as it was unable to be pulled through the thick grouping of trees in our way, let alone the sand.  
  
Kakeru was looking much better now, Status Removal had even leveled up twice more, and I had managed to get the petrification all the way down to both shins, the boosted effectiveness of the spell coming in _strong_.  
  
Kakeru was even sitting up on the seat now, I was so proud of him.  
  
I was still sitting cross-legged on the floor of the wagon, and my ass was starting to hurt when the door opened to reveal Korega and Michiru, who had been both riding on the front of the wagon while it was in transit.  
  
“Father,” Michiru said astonished, “You are looking so much better now!”  
  
Korega seemed to agree given how high his thick eyebrows had risen to his hairline.  
  
“This is as far as we can go with the wagon,” Korega said seriously after he had recovered. “It is only a small walk to the shoreline from here, and we should find the boats nearby, I am sorry Kakeru-sama, but we will have to carry you from now.”  
  
Kakeru waved the comment off easily and the three of us helped him out of the wagon, with Korega taking most of the man’s weight.  
  
“You need to lay off the sweets, Kakeru.” I said dryly, “When was the last time you got some exercise anyway?”  
  
Korega made an offended noise at the comment, while Michiru just stared at me in disbelief.  
  
“I _have_ been putting on weight recently,” Kakeru said bemused, “I might need to start getting out more often after this is all over.”  
  
“Kakeru-sama!” Korega grunted as we got Kakeru up onto his back. “You are _perfectly_ healthy for a man of your age, do not pay any mind to him.”  
  
“A man of his age, huh?” I said amused, “Are you saying he’s old, Korega?”  
  
Korega stilled for a moment as he realized what he had done.  
  
“I didn’t-” Korega started horrified.  
  
“Be calm, Korega,” Kakeru laughed, “I _am_ old, I was not offended.”  
  
“How old are you, anyway?” I asked curiously, as another soldier helped Michiru tie his father’s legs together at the knee, being incredibly careful with his feet.  
  
Korega breathed sharply out of his nose but didn’t take the bait this time, I smiled.  
  
“Sixty-four as of this year,” Kakeru said thoughtfully, from his perch on Korega’s back.  
  
“Hah, you’ve got another thirty years in you at least, I can’t believe you were trying to get out early back at the mountain,” I said cheekily.  
  
Kakeru rasped out a laugh.  
  
“Another thirty years?” Kakeru said amused, “I certainly hope not, that is an exceptionally long time and I have seen _more_ than enough already.”  
  
“Kakeru-sama!” Korega said alarmed.  
  
“Father!” Michiru admonished him.  
  
I snickered, Kakeru had a surprisingly good sense of humor.  
  
When we finally started moving towards the shore, the trees started to thin out and the sand on the ground overcame the grass entirely. Kakashi and Lee were at the front of our group, while Sakura and Naruto were holding both of the wings. The rest of the soldiers were surrounding Korega, Kakeru, Michiru, Hikaru, and myself.  
  
Kakashi signaled for us to stop right at the edge of where the forest ended, and we waited for several minutes before he pointed in a direction, obviously enough that everyone noticed. We started heading out, but just as our part of the entourage was level with the tree line the other ninjas arrived.  
  
They leaped out of the tree line further up from us, crossing a massive distance in an instant before landing next to the boats.  
  
I played the leap over and over in my head in awe, seeing somebody _move_ like that was _incredible_ , it was the first thing I had actually seen like it. I had _felt_ Kakashi move very quickly back at the chamber, but I hadn’t _seen_ it.  
  
The soldiers pulled us back into the tree line and we all crouched down, making sure to keep the trees between us and the ninja. Kakashi and Lee had already been seen, so they made no move to return to the trees. Naruto and Sakura revealed themselves a moment later by moving straight out to stand beside their teammates.  
  
“Kakeru-sama.” Korega said tightly, “We should assist them.”  
  
I frowned at that, that sounded like a terrible idea, but the soldiers all made noises of agreement, they clearly wanted to fight. They would probably only get in the way of the ninja though, and I didn’t hear what Kakeru said to them as I had already moved closer to the tree line to get a better angle to watch from.  
  
Team Seven and Lee had moved towards the other ninja and where seemingly exchanging some words that none of us had any chance of hearing from all the way over here. The negotiations seemed to break down pretty quickly though because the shortest member of the other group tossed something into the sand about five meters away from the leaf ninja.  
  
It was far enough away from them that they didn’t even have to move when it exploded violently. Team seven spread out immediately and sprinted around the explosion towards the other ninja without fear. I stared at them all as they moved at speeds I had never witnessed outside of cars or motorbikes.  
  
It was incredible.  
  
The largest ninja went after Naruto, while the shortest one went after Sakura. Kakashi and Lee both went after the guy who I thought might be the petrification guy. I managed to Observe the three of them during the fight and read through their stats.

* * *

Name: Ishidate  
Title: N/A  
Gender: Male  
Age: 29  
Level: 176  
Next Level: 11.39%  
Health Points - 1530/1530  
Chakra Points - 1120/1120  
Vitality 153  
Strength 205  
Speed 260  
Perception 101  
Intelligence 109  
Chakra 112  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Excitement, Amused, Impatient.  
  
History: Ishidate is a member of the Uemon Clan, a group of wandering ninja mercenaries that hold no allegiance to any of the hidden villages. The Uemon Clan routinely brings in new recruits, either willingly or by force. Ishidate was one of the few members born of two members of the clan and is one of the last three remaining members alive.

* * *

Oh wow, this guy was fast.  
  
He was actually _faster_ than Kakashi despite being a much lower level, although I couldn’t visually tell the difference in their speeds, both of them were vanishing between exchanges. He was also a little bit stronger than Kakashi as well, but It wasn’t by much. This guy was clearly a hand to hand specialist of some sort, but I’m fairly sure Kakashi trained regularly with Gai though, so I don’t think he was going to have much trouble with this dude.  
  
Lee was trying to keep up with them both and was clearly struggling, I hadn’t seen any sand explosions yet either, so he was probably still wearing his weights. This was _exactly_ the kind of fight where you should take them off, Lee.  
  
 _Come_ on man use your head.

* * *

Name: Kongo  
Title: N/A  
Gender: Male  
Age: 33  
Level: 153  
Next Level: 27.31%  
Health Points - 1800/1800  
Chakra Points - 740/740  
Vitality 180  
Strength 260  
Speed 155  
Perception 80  
Intelligence 76  
Chakra 74  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Bloodlust. Glee. Anger.  
  
History: Kongo is a member of the Uemon Clan, a group of wandering ninja mercenaries that hold no allegiance to any of the hidden villages. The Uemon Clan routinely brings in new recruits, either willingly or by force. Kongo was one of the members brought into the clan by force at a young age and is one of the last three remaining members alive.

* * *

Kongo seemed to also be a melee fighter, although he had apparently specialized in strength rather than speed, which made sense given how big the guy was. ‘Brought in by force’ though, that didn’t sound very nice. An unwilling recruit of the Uemon Clan huh? Was this my bodyguard in waiting? Kongo was kicking the crap out of Naruto, physically dominating the poor kid, but he kept getting back up for more. Naruto’s health was still at over half full, so I thought he was still doing okay for now.

* * *

Name: Karenbana  
Title: N/A  
Gender: Female  
Age: 22  
Level: 137  
Next Level: 73.37%  
Health Points - 1400/1400  
Chakra Points - 1350/1350  
Vitality 140  
Strength 110  
Speed 190  
Perception 80  
Intelligence 90  
Chakra 135  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Anger, Worry, Excitement.  
  
History: Karenbana is a member of the Uemon Clan, a group of wandering ninja mercenaries that hold no allegiance to any of the hidden villages. The Uemon Clan routinely brings in new recruits, either willingly or by force. Karenbana was one of the members brought into the clan by force at a young age and is one of the last three remaining members alive.

* * *

Karenbana, what a bizarre name, she seemed to also be a melee fighter?  
  
I guess they all were, she was fast, but not nearly as physically proficient as her teammates. If she ever got to the same level as Ishidate she would be extremely fast, she was only slightly slower then Lee was right now. Another unwilling member of the Uemon Clan, and another potential bodyguard.  
  
Sakura was struggling against her, fighting defensively with two kunai out, and her health was dropping steadily with each exchange, she was already down to 634/900. Karenbana was _much_ better at hand to hand apparently, and far too fast for her to keep up, although Sakura did manage to land the occasional hit on her.  
  
Did Sakura have her Tsunade level strength yet?  
  
Her strength stat was only at eighty, but the strength thing might have been an active skill of some sort, wasn’t that how she won originally, by punching the other ninja hard enough to one-shot her?  
  
They were also slowly moving towards us throughout their battle.  
  
The overall fight between the two ninja teams abruptly changed as Kongo stopped messing around and smashed Naruto up into the air before leaping up after him. The height on the jump was amazing, and the force of the ax kick Kongo hit him with sent him straight back down onto the beach. Sand exploded in every direction at the impact and I could see Naruto buried upside down, unmoving.  
  
Observe said he still alive but stunned and his health was sitting at 980/2100.  
  
Kongo immediately switched targets and started going after Lee, freeing up Ishidate to focus entirely on Kakashi. I noted that Kakashi still hadn’t moved his headband, apparently, it wasn’t yet time for the Sharingan to make an appearance. I turned back to check on Sakura, but her health had dropped down to 460/900, and she was bleeding from all of the cuts on her arms and chest.  
  
I started getting nervous, the Konoha ninja were getting their asses kicked and all it would take is a single moment for one of them to land a killing blow. Wasn’t Naruto supposed to go Kyuubi mode and start kicking everybody’s ass? He was still stunned, according to observe and he didn’t look like he would be getting up for a while yet.  
  
Fuck it.  
  
I leaned around the tree and aimed at Karenbana, waiting for her to stop moving for a moment. I had been nonstop training Line Spear, and I was hoping it would be strong enough to do some damage. It could go most of the way through a tree now.  
  
Sakura’s health had dropped down to 325/900 before I finally got a chance to take the shot.  
  
“Line Spear,” I said quietly.  
  
I was aiming for Karenbana’s ankle, but my zero luck came in strong as I ended up hitting her in the knee instead. Line Spear went straight through her kneecap and out the back of her leg before impacting the sand behind her. It was obscenely fast, and the line of mana disappeared less than a second after it connected, dissipating in the air. Karenbana let out a scream of pain and then leap backward towards Kongo, she landed lopsided, unable to put any weight on that leg.  
  
Kongo gave up chasing Lee after he booted him halfway across the beach and grabbed his teammate by the arm, god _damn_ his hands were big, they looked like _crabs_ even from this distance. Ishidate glanced over at them before breaking off from Kakashi. I couldn’t help but noticed that Ishidate’s emotional state had changed from ‘Excitement, Amused, Impatient.’ to ‘Furious, Murderous, Disgusted.’, the guy didn’t like Kakashi very much.  
  
Ishidate snapped something angrily to his teammates and they dashed back into the trees, retreating with blinding speed. Kakashi made to follow them before turning to glance our way for a moment. I felt a bright roiling presence appear amidst our group and spun around to see Ishidate with his hand around the back of Michiru’s neck.  
  
“So this is where you rats were hiding,” Ishidate said darkly, from the middle of our group. “I’ll be sure to come to kill you all later, please be patient.”  
  
Ishidate vanished at the same time as Kakashi appeared next to our group in a swirl of leaves and sand.  
  
Your level has increased by 7!  
  
I couldn’t even take any pleasure in finally leveling up, because Michiru was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Status  
> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 8  
> Health Points - 390/390  
> Mana Points - 717/717  
> Vitality 39 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 43 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 49 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 23 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 18 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 62 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 35  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.50 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 10.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 11.25 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 8.75 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 10.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 53  
> Perception Rating - 23  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.


	8. Dreaming of Charisma

We immediately moved to a different part of the forest at Kakashi’s behest, in case, the ninja decided to come back. Hikaru cried the entire time, and I felt awful. Every time I thought back to the moment Ishidate had kidnapped the kid's father I felt guilty, I should have tried to shoot _Ishidate_ in the back of the head. I had _tried_ to help them fight the ninja but Michiru had still gotten abducted. I might have even made it worse because Ishidate looked pretty pissed off, he might end up killing Michiru as soon as they got to the castle, or even _before_.  
  
 _Fuck._  
  
Kakeru remained remarkably composed given what had just happened, but I could see the tightness in his jaw, Korega was visibly shaking with anger as the two of them talked the situation over. I had fallen back into a Status Removal – Meditate loop the second we stopped moving. Kakashi had left us hours ago, to go scout out the castle's defenses, and by the time he returned it was already morning.  
  
Kakashi stepped into view behind the soldiers, appearing within my energy sense with a burst of speed. Everyone turned their attention to him.  
  
“Sensei, how did it go?” Sakura said tiredly, still looking rather beat up.  
  
Sakura had healed most of her wounds already, but her health was still only 750/900. I would offer to heal them all once I was done with Kakeru.  
  
“Security was too tight, I couldn’t get close, one thing is for sure though,” Kakashi said seriously, “Time is running out.”  
  
One of the soldiers said something that I missed and they started arguing amongst themselves. Hikaru started losing his shit as well, startling most of us with his volume.  
  
“I want my father!” Hikaru cried loudly.  
  
I felt another burst of guilt cut through me at the sound, the poor kid didn’t deserve this. If I got the chance I was going to put a Line Spear right through Shabadaba’s eyeball. Naruto stood up slowly with his head hanging down.  
  
“Well, okay then,” Naruto said quietly, “Let’s go get him.”  
  
I stared at the kid who couldn’t have been five-foot-tall but had a presence that eclipsed every single person in the clearing entirely, that was some charisma.  
  
“It’s impossible,” One of the soldiers said quietly.  
  
I understood how he felt, I had seen how many of the guards and soldiers that had joined with Shabadaba. The sheer number disparity between the ten of us, one of which was a small child, and the hundreds of men Shabadaba currently commanded.  
  
Naruto didn’t seem to give a shit about that.  
  
“We can’t just do _nothing_!” Naruto shot back immediately, “We have to try.”  
  
This god damned kid was getting me fired up, I almost felt like storming the castle with them. Well, maybe a slow walk, but still. Hikaru managed to speak up through his despair.  
  
“It’s too late.” Hikaru cried.  
  
I forced myself to turn towards the kid, feeling immediately awful again.  
  
“You heard them, it’s hopeless.” Hikaru sobbed, “My father will be killed, it’s too late to save him now.”  
  
Naruto moved over to the boy, calling his name several times without response, so he bent down and pulled the kid to his feet.  
  
“Hikaru, are you just going to throw everything away again? Is that it?” Naruto asked quietly, “You’re just going to abandon him? What happened, was I wrong?”  
  
Hikaru just stared up at him, unable to say anything, I was missing some context here, they must have had some kind of bonding moment before this.  
  
“I thought you were _better_ than this.” Naruto said quietly, “You just let it all go? Your father? Even your courage? The promise we made each other, you’d throw it all away?”  
  
Hikaru just stared at him with wide eyes.  
  
“You _still_ don’t know, what _really_ matters,” Naruto said shakily.  
  
Naruto was crying as well, I realized after a moment. Hikaru was clearly affected by the words judging by the expression on his face before he visibly steeled himself before speaking up.  
  
“Alright,” Hikaru said firmly. “Let’s go save my father.”  
  
The same soldier who had spoken before jumped to his feet in alarm, another protest on his lips.  
  
“Be calm,” Kakeru said quietly, as I slowly helped him to his feet.  
  
Cries of ‘Your majesty!’, ‘Grandfather!’, ‘Kakeru-sama!’ started up all around the clearing as they celebrated his return to full health. I was feeling a bit left out, so I joined in as well.  
  
“Old man Kakeru!” I cried in surprise, “You’re healed! It’s a miracle!”  
  
Kakeru turned to stare at me dryly, and Korega made a strangled noise in the back of his throat at the disrespect while Kakashi turned away for a moment to hide his amusement.  
  
“A miracle indeed,” Kakeru said amused, before turning back to his grandson.  
  
I left them alone for a moment to go talk to Sakura, who had the lowest hp of the ninja. I checked Naruto already, but his health had already returned to 1600/2100. Something like 500+ hp in a couple of hours, his regeneration rate was insane. Sakura had easily noticed my approach, and I slowed down to make sure she didn’t think I was being aggressive or anything.  
  
I noted that Kakashi had somehow moved _much_ closer while I wasn’t looking almost between my first and second step, no doubt assuming I was about to suddenly reveal myself as the fourth enemy ninja and gank them.  
  
“Sakura, you’re still at less than full health,” I said pleasantly, “Do I have your permission to heal you?”  
  
Sakura glanced over at Kakashi or a moment before turning back and nodding.  
  
“I already healed most of the cuts earlier, but there is some deeper tissue damage I can’t fix on my own yet,” Sakura said sheepishly.  
  
I just nodded easily and held out my hand for her to take. Sakura looked at it strangely before placing her hand in my palm hesitantly. I silently used Heal, and my hand lit up with a bright green light.  
  
“What on earth?” Sakura said quietly, abruptly staring down at her left hip.  
  
I watched her hp rapidly fill back up and then dropped her hand once she was maxed out.  
  
“There you go,” I said easily, “Where’s Naruto gone, he was the next most injured, I believe.”  
  
Sakura turned to face away from Kakashi and me for a moment, doing something with her shirt. Naruto must have heard his name because he bounced over a moment later looking curious.  
  
“I’m going to heal you, is that cool?” I asked simply.  
  
I wasn’t going to force it on any of them, they might take a sudden attempt to heal them as an attack or something. Better to ask permission in this case, rather than forgiveness.  
  
“Sure,” Naruto said happily and took my hand when I held it out to him.  
  
I had to drop into Meditate halfway through healing him to regain enough Mana to keep the spell running, he had a lot of hp, and I was rather low now. It eventually filled up though and I let him go as well. I offered to heal Kakashi, but he was still sitting just below full health, he had barely been touched in his fight.  
  
“No thank you, I managed to avoid any injuries during the battle,” Kakashi said easily.  
  
Lee was still talking to one of the soldiers, but Naruto ran over to get him.  
  
“What exactly are you doing?” Sakura said finally, having finished her inspection.  
  
“What do you mean?” I said pleasantly, hoping this wasn’t going to turn into another interrogation about medical stuff that I had no idea about.  
  
“Whatever you were doing, that’s not medical ninjutsu,” Sakura said firmly.  
  
Goddammit.  
  
“No refunds sorry,” I said cheekily.  
  
Sakura huffed and tried again.  
  
“You didn’t even _use_ a diagnostic technique to check what type of damage it was, or _where_ ,” Sakura said confusedly.  
  
I glanced over at Kakashi for help, but he just raised his one visible eyebrow at me.  
  
“Diagnostic techniques are for amateurs?” I tried weakly.  
  
Sakura scoffed.  
  
“Tsunade of the Sannin, the _best_ medical ninja in the entire world,” Sakura said offended, “uses diagnostic techniques.”  
  
“I guess she’s the second-best then,” I said cheekily, unable to help myself.  
  
Sakura looked shocked and appalled at my comment before we were interrupted by the return of Naruto with Lee.  
  
“Sora-kun!” Lee said cheerfully, “Naruto-kun has informed me you wish to heal me!”  
  
I nodded, I might have a crack at the left-over Shattered Bones Status Effect while I was at it. I’d give it a try, but I would have to use Status Removal.  
  
“Yep, is that alright with you?” I asked easily.  
  
“Of course!” Lee said cheerfully.  
  
I smiled at his exuberance, and held out my hand, Lee took it without a moment’s hesitation.  
  
“Hm.” I hummed and narrowed my eyes.  
  
He was only down about 200 hp, so it didn’t take awfully long to get him back to full.  
  
“I feel much better!” Lee said amazed, “Thank you, Sora-kun!”  
  
I didn’t let go of his hand yet.  
  
“Lee,” I said thoughtfully, “There’s something wrong with your left hand, and your left leg? Something’s up with your chakra as well.”  
  
Lee’s eyes widened and glanced around at the others quickly before looking back to me.  
  
“An old injury that has long since healed,” Lee said honestly but made no mention of the chakra thing. “There was some permanent damage left in those areas, at least that’s what I was told.  
  
“Mind if I take a crack at fixing it?” I asked curiously and Lee looked hesitant for a moment before nodding.  
  
I used Status Removal and smiled at the result.  
  
Health Points - 1314/1322(1500)  
Chakra Points - 9/1070  
  
His limited maximum health rose by eight points, from 1314 to 1322, while his chakra rose by the same amount, I guess I _could_ fix things like this after all.  
  
“How long have we got until we go to get Michiru?” I asked easily, already dropping into Meditate once more.  
  
“Twenty minutes at the latest,” Kakashi said immediately. “Why?”  
  
Lee was looking very curious.  
  
“I can fix the old damage,” I said honestly, “but I need about fifteen minutes or so?”  
  
“Truly?” Lee said astonished.  
  
I nodded and spoke up before Sakura could interject.  
  
“I’m pretty terrible at this technique, I have to stop after a second and restart it,” I explained. “It’s only doing like, a couple of percent of the job every time I use it?”  
  
Sakura looked confused as all hell.  
  
“What kind of technique works like that?” Sakura said strangely. “You aren’t even _touching_ the affected areas!”  
  
I just shrugged, unable to think of a good enough answer, It ended up taking me almost the entire twenty minutes, but by the end, I couldn’t help but grin once I was finished.  
  
Health Points - 1500/1500  
Chakra Points - 1070/1070  
  
“All done,” I said cheerfully, “I fixed your energy network while I was at it.”  
  
The look on all of their faces was priceless.  
  
“What?!” Sakura demanded.  
  
Sakura stepped forwards to get to Lee whose eyes were wide, and I stepped back to avoid getting pushed over. Her hand was already surrounded by the glow of her diagnostic technique, so I gave it up as a lost cause. I wandered off with a huff, how rude.  
  
Kakashi made as if to stop me before aborting the motion, instead, he moved closer to Lee and Sakura while Naruto just looked confused. I made my way back over to where Kakeru, Korega, and Hikaru were talking quietly.  
  
“Hey, Hikaru.” I said easily, before turning to Kakeru, “How long till we head out?”  
  
Korega had given up on being suspicious of me by now, which was good because it was getting pretty old. I hadn’t interacted with Hikaru much though, and he kind of just stared up at me quietly.  
  
“Momentarily,” Kakeru said seriously, “Korega was just trying to talk me out of coming along.”  
  
Korega looked strained, no doubt stuck between wanting to go save the Prince but not wanting the King in harm’s way, I may as well help him make the decision.  
  
“Don’t worry Korega,” I said easily, “I’ll stick with Kakeru and Hikaru when we get to the castle so you can go kick everyone’s ass.”  
  
Korega sighed, he probably wanted me to talk the king out of coming at all. We wouldn’t be safe out here though as soon as the ninja noticed that we were split up they would send someone back here and the Konoha ninja would have to split up as well. It was better to stay as a single group, and under the protective banner of the Konoha ninja.  
  
“Its time to go,” Kakashi said quietly.  
  
I had felt him walking up, but he had stopped _directly_ behind me which made me pretty uncomfortable, I’m not going to lie.  
  
“Very well, Kakashi-kun.” Kakeru said calmly, “Lead the way.”  
  
Kakashi did not attempt to dissuade the king and Korega sighed again.  
  
“Sora-san,” Kakashi said firmly, “Walk with me.”  
  
“Sure,” I said evenly.  
  
Kakashi started moving through the trees and I fell in step beside him, I could feel the rest of the group spreading back out in a similar formation as before. Only this time Lee was at the back of the group, to protect the group from an attack from behind. We walked in silence for several minutes, and Kakashi didn’t say anything.  
  
“Just ask,” I said dryly, after another two minutes of tense silence.  
  
Kakashi hummed quietly.  
  
“You used some kind of technique to injure the kunoichi that was fighting Sakura.” Kakashi said easily, “What was it?”  
  
I thought about denying it for about half a second before deciding it was too much trouble.  
  
“It’s called Line Spear,” I said simply, “It is the only offensive technique I know, and it took ages to get it to do more than just knock sand around.”  
  
Kakashi waited a few moments before speaking again.  
  
“You have indicated several times that you do not have memories of before you woke up in the Land of the Moon,” Kakashi said quietly, “How is it that you can perform these techniques?”  
  
“I _do_ remember a few techniques,” I said simply, “I cannot remember anyone’s names, my _own_ name, or where I’m from.”  
  
“So you are most likely a ninja,” Kakashi said seriously.  
  
“I’m honestly not sure.” I said easily, “I can sense your energy, but it feels completely different to mine.”  
  
“In what way?” Kakashi wondered.  
  
I noted that he didn’t even _question_ that I could sense energy, had he already figured that out, or was it more like the old don’t interrupt your enemy while he’s explaining all of his weaknesses kind of thing.  
  
“You have a network of energy that runs through the entirety of your body, through these large channels and it all comes from a central point in your torso, before running through a series of gates that are spread out over your body. Your energy is suffusing most of your body as well, leaking out past the channels through small holes all through your body.” I said slowly, feeling around with my energy sense. “I do have a core in my torso, but that’s it, I don’t have any of the channels, gates, or holes that you have, and the energy itself is different.”  
  
Kakashi frowned behind his mask and fell silent for another minute.  
  
“Lee’s network looked much the same as your own, but with much less energy,” I said quietly, “Except the vast majority of those holes were shut, or not formed properly, and his energy was kept tightly constrained _within_ the channels.”  
  
Kakashi listened intently, I could almost feel his attention like a physical force.  
  
“I just exchanged my energy to bring his condition in line with what it should have been, and the holes that were malformed are open now,” I explained, that was the result of my efforts, but I had no idea that it was going to do exactly, I was just hoping that it would work out somehow. “Lee’s energy is now moving around in his entire body like the rest of you.”  
  
Kakashi was now doing the stay quiet, so your enemy keeps on monologuing thing, at least I think he was, but two could play at that game. I stayed quiet this time and our group continued to move through the forestry for a long while before I finally cracked again.  
  
Goddammit, Kakashi.  
  
“Hey, Kakashi.” I said curiously, “I think I might need a bodyguard after all this nonsense is over, so when you kick these other ninja’s asses, can you leave one alive for me to hire?”  
  
Kakashi blinked at the sudden request.  
  
“I don’t think it will be that easy.” Kakashi said bemused. “and as a Jounin of Konohagakure I should refer you to my own village for any mission requests.”  
  
Shilling for your village, huh? Nice try buddy.  
  
“Yeah but you guys are already on a mission, and will be leaving afterward right?” I argued, “These dudes are just random mercenaries, they could probably use a job after we mess up their mission.”  
  
“Kakeru mentioned they were likely a wandering ninja clan.” Kakashi said amused, “You’re fine with hiring a team of ninjas that are currently trying to kill all of us?”  
  
“Sure,” I said easily, “If you were on the other side I would probably try and hire you as well, all this ninja nonsense just sounds like clashing missions to me, does that happen very often?”  
  
Kakashi actually laughed at that.  
  
“Yes, ninjas coming into conflict with each other over mission parameters is very common,” Kakashi explained amused.  
  
“Are there usually hard feelings if both teams get out unscathed?” I asked curiously.  
  
Kakashi titled one of his hands to the side several times.  
  
“It depends on the mission if both teams survive unscathed, but the client is lost-” Kakashi said thoughtfully, “It can have _negative_ effects if the team is close to the client in some way, and it looks bad for the team who was hired to protect the client in the first place if they fail.”  
  
“I suppose taking a hit to your reputation would suck if that’s what you used to bring in more clients,” I said thoughtfully.  
  
Kakashi just nodded in agreement.  
  
We walked for several hours until Kakashi finally signaled us to slow down and he explained again where we should all be. Michiru _did_ end up buying the circus again, but I hadn’t run into them yet. They were currently performing at the castle, for Shabadaba’s enjoyment but at Kakeru’s behest. They had sent one of the soldiers off to make another offer of payment to them.  
  
How sneaky of the old man.  
  
The Genin would be ferrying those who couldn’t climb over the fence inside, while Kakashi would be making a distraction at the front gate. Once we were all inside, the Genin would be taking us to find Michiru while Kakashi led the ninja away.  
  
The plan seemed pretty shaky to me, but they were the ninja, I was just a dude.  
  
There was supposedly most of the high-ranking members of the Land of the Moon’s government in attendance to this impromptu event, so hopefully, a few extra soldiers and people wouldn’t be too out of place. Kakeru had changed clothes and was wearing one of the soldier's undershirts as a hood, to try to disguise his distinctively long hair.  
  
We were just waiting on Kakashi’s signal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 8  
> Health Points - 390/390  
> Mana Points - 758/758  
> Vitality 39 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 43 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 49 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 23 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 18 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 65 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 35  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.50 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 11.75 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 11.25 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 9.75 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 11 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 53  
> Perception Rating - 23  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.


	9. Dreaming of Moons

Operation jump over the fence and find Michiru had officially begun when Kakashi set off an explosion of some kind at the front gate before strolling up the pathway like he owned the place.  
  
While he was distracting everyone the Genin started carrying everyone over the back fence. I managed to climb over the fence on my own without much effort, my physical stats had definitely grown beyond your average human at this point, if only just.  
  
We made it into the castle without being seen.  
  
Everyone had moved towards the front of the building to either watch the chaos or try and fight Kakashi. Korega seemed to know where he was going because he brought us through a series of hallways, staircases, and doors without hesitation.  
  
Kakeru was looking pretty worn down by all the running around, and Hikaru was just too short to keep up with the pace, so we had to slow down to a fast walk to stay as a group. The range of Energy Sense was now high enough that I could feel several floors above and below me.  
  
We stopped at the entrance to a massive room and the soldiers held the door open to check everything. The sides of the chamber had balconies and staircases that stretched to the top of the castle, and the throne room, our destination. Naruto, Sakura, and Lee were all talking quietly to Hikaru, while I was crouched next to Kakeru and Korega.  
  
Kakeru was finally starting to get his breath back, the poor guy.  
  
“It’s clear,” The soldier the doorway announced. “Let’s go.”  
  
He led us to the righthand side of the massive room and up the first flight of stairs. Just as we cleared it I felt Kongo’s energy signature come into range above us, as he slowly made his way down the stairs.  
  
“Incoming!” I called out, “Ninja, three stories up, coming down the stairs, it’s the big dude.”  
  
Everybody stopped right near the stairwell and turned to face me, before turning back to where I was pointing to the roof, tracking him with my finger. The three ninjas spoke quickly to each other before Lee stepped forward.  
  
“I’ll handle it.” Lee said confidently, “Go on ahead, use the other stairs.”  
  
Naruto clapped him on the shoulder before starting to lead us around the balcony to the other side.  
  
“Lee,” I called as we left, “Kick his ass!”  
  
Lee just grinned.  
  
We just made it to the other side of the room by the staircase just as Kongo stepped down in front of Lee. Kongo glanced over at us for a moment before dismissing the lot of us and taking a threatening step towards Lee, but I lost sight of them when we crested the stairs.  
  
Another energy signature popped up a couple of stories above us, clinging to a wall.  
  
“Three stories up, the small one, crawling on a wall,” I called out immediately.  
  
Korega cursed under his breath, and Sakura turned to glance at me intently.  
  
“We can’t go back down, we will have to break through,” Korega said seriously.  
  
We kept on moving until we were on the floor below her.  
  
Naruto and Sakura rushed up the stairs ahead of us in a burst of speed to engage the ninja. We waited on the stairs for almost a minute, and I could feel at least twenty massive chakra signatures appear out of nowhere to engage her.  
  
Naruto’s Shadow Clones I guessed, Sakura stuck her arm over the banister and waved us up. We moved quickly and there was a brief moment when I could see the clones fighting someone on the wall down the hallway before we cut straight past them and up the next flight of stairs.  
  
I realized a moment later that there was still a Naruto and a Sakura with us.  
  
Hadn’t Sakura stayed behind to fight her last time? I could feel the clones getting popped one after another, they wouldn’t last more than a minute at best.  
  
“Those other Naruto’s are getting wrecked,” I called out, “There are only twelve left-eleven now.”  
  
Naruto glanced back before looking forward again.  
  
Oh he got feedback when they popped or something, he already knew, Karen-whatever was going to end up pincering us if we didn’t take her down now, or she might even go down and help Kongo fight Lee.  
  
I could also feel about thirty people up on the top floor, but Ishidate wasn’t amongst them, he must have gone down to fight Kakashi.  
  
“There are about thirty people, probably soldiers, on the top floor and two guys in the middle of the room.” I rattled off loud enough for everyone to hear, “Michiru is out on the balcony? I think?”  
  
Kakeru mumbled his son's name under his breath. Naruto and Sakura had a quick exchange with one another, possibly deciding on a plan.  
  
“His energy feels strong, I’m pretty sure he’s unhurt.” I offered.  
  
Kakeru was panting heavily again, but he managed to toss me a look that I interpreted as gratitude, and then we were suddenly outside. The hallway abruptly became a balcony with a waist-high railing on it, and I could see Michiru from here. He was above us the next balcony up, standing on the end of a long wooden plank with a rope around his neck, it was attached to some kind of pulley system above him.  
  
What the hell was this pirate nonsense?  
  
“Father!” Hikaru called desperately as we came up near the plank.  
  
“Michiru!” Kakeru panted harshly.  
  
Soldiers started pouring out of the glass doors, surrounding us in a half-circle. I could see Shabadaba leaning bodily over the railing and looking down at us gleefully from the next floor up. I heard an explosion down below and glanced over my shoulder.  
  
Ishidate was standing on top of a bunch of flying boulders, which were rapidly turning into projectiles that rained down onto the ground, kicking up clouds of dust to cover the area below. Kakashi dashed out of the side of the cloud, his vest tattered but looking otherwise unharmed, his headband was up now and I thought I could almost see a hint of red from all the way up here.  
  
I felt a bunch of signatures burst into existence around us as Naruto made more clones and sent them towards the guards while Sakura was flitting around the clones taking stabs at the solder's legs and feet. Korega was standing defensively in front of Kakeru and Hikaru with his saber out, face stoic. The other soldiers on our side were all fighting furiously but were being overwhelmed slowly by the superior numbers. Karen-lady was almost at our position now, limping slowly towards the end of the hallway she would be able to see us in a moment. I stared at the chaos for a moment before pointing my finger up at Shabadaba.  
  
Fuck it.  
  
“Line Spear,” I said quietly.  
  
Shabadaba’s body hit the stone floor of the balcony with a crunch and soldiers leaped away from it in alarm before the fighting slowly stopped.  
  
Your level has increased by 1.  
  
I distantly heard a shrieking noise in the distance, almost like the sounds of birds.  
  
“Stand down,” Kakeru said quietly to the soldiers. “This has gone on for long enough.”  
  
The soldiers, despite still having us outnumbered three-to-one, slowly dropped their weapons and knelt. I could still feel Karenbana standing at the entrance of the hallway we had exited, just watching us but I couldn’t see her, she was somehow invisible? Korega and the rest of the loyal soldiers started tying up the traitors, who did nothing to prevent it. Naruto and Sakura stayed close to the king.  
  
I kept on staring straight at where Karenbana was standing.  
  
“Hey Kakeru,” I said clearly, “Now that Shabadaba is gone, those ninjas won’t get paid anymore will they?”  
  
Kakeru glanced my way, but I didn’t meet his gaze, I didn’t want to look at the man who’s once-friend I had just murdered in front of him.  
  
“I suppose not,” Kakeru said evenly.  
  
Karenbana stared at us for a moment longer before turning to limp away, I still couldn’t see her, but she didn’t try to kill us again, so I made no mention of her presence to the others. Kakashi joined us a few minutes later, carrying a dead Ishidate who had a fist-sized hole in his chest, and barely a moment later Lee appeared from the other side of the balcony carrying Kongo who was also _very_ dead, judging by how his neck stuck out at a bizarre angle.  
  
Shit, looks like I wasn’t getting a bodyguard after all. I kind of just hung back while the soldiers and the Konoha ninja handled everything from there on out. Michiru was promptly rescued and welcomed back to the group with cheers.  
  
I was feeling pretty out of it.  
  
I was searching for something inside myself that would indicate that I had felt bad for killing the guy, but whatever I expected to be there, I couldn’t find it. I felt bad for _Kakeru_ because it had been _his_ friend but for the act of actually killing Shabadaba?  
  
I felt nothing.  
  
Shabadaba was a bad guy I knew and I still wondered what had happened to those families that were dragged out of the houses by the soldiers, likely on his orders. He had gotten a lot of people killed for his greed, most of which were the loyal soldiers that had died defending the King, but even the two ninjas that had been killed during all the fighting wouldn’t have been here if he hadn’t been a greedy piece of shit. Despite all that, I had _still_ killed a man, so why didn’t I feel bad about it?  
  
For the first time since I woke up on the beach, I was beginning to think something might actually be wrong with me after all.

* * *

Kakashi and Korega had spent the last three days vetting each of the soldiers that had betrayed the king. I don’t know what criteria they were using to figure out if they could stay on, but it seemed to be slow going.  
  
There had actually ended up being another pocket of remaining loyalists stationed at the other side of the island, that had been conducting hit and run attacks on the castle since the coup, that’s where all of the soldiers in the city had left to. At least that’s what Kakashi had managed to discover from some of the men. The loyalists had been brought back to the castle and vetted as well, just in case, but they now made up the bulk of the force that was guarding the returned King.  
  
Naruto, Sakura, and Lee had been patrolling the castle as well, and taking turns standing guard for the King, his son, and grandson.  
  
I had kind of been left to myself, and I tried to stay away from Kakeru for a few days in case he held some kind of resentment for what I had done, I may have in his place after all he _had_ known the man for forty years.  
  
The soldiers had provided me a room near the bottom of the castle, and I had even managed to get some of them to teach me some basic combat skills. I got Martial Arts from one of the older guys when he taught me some throws that were pretty interesting and Unarmed Mastery from another younger guy with a lot less technique.  
  
Sparring did provide some EXP towards leveling, but it wasn’t very much, or it might have just been because I was so crap at the moment that I couldn’t actually gain much from it. I assumed the experience would increase based on my own performance during the spar, and to some extent the level of the opponent. These guys were only in the high thirties range, still in training, or just inexperienced I wasn’t sure.  
  
They still _routinely_ kicked my ass, either way, I was almost as strong as the weaker ones physically, but I couldn’t fight for shit yet, it led to a lot of laughing and jokes, but I was a big boy, I could take it.  
  
I _was_ getting cabin fever though, I hadn’t been outside of the castle walls since we broke in here, and I didn’t want to ruin the walls or floor with training, so I was stuck training physicals and non-combat mana stuff.  
  
I was intending on leaving soon anyway, I’d had plenty of time to think. I had until the Suna-Leaf chunin exams before I had to fight Akatsuki and I knew exactly what I was going to hunt down in the meantime. I was going to find me a legendary weapon, and I doubted it was the one you might expect.  
  
Occasionally I would feel one of the ninjas enter my range and observe me for a little while before they vanished back to whatever they were doing. The next time it happened I waited for them to leave and then got up.  
  
I headed straight out of my room and headed for the front doors.  
  
Surprisingly, nobody stopped me, as I made my way out and down to the gate, the soldiers guarding the gate gave me a once over but made no move to apprehend me. I headed off down the winding road to the city.  
  
The birds chirped, the trees danced in the wind and the sun shone brightly, so _this_ was the power of freedom. My happiness was infringed upon when Kakashi appeared right outside what had been the edge of my range three days ago.  
  
How he had figured that out I have no idea, but it was too perfect for it not to be on purpose, and he clearly didn’t know that I’d gotten better in the meantime. I made it to the city without him ever revealing himself, no doubt watching to see if I tried to do anything suspicious.  
  
I have no idea why, it’s not like I was trying to sneak out of the castle, I walked out of the front doors after all. The city was pretty lively now, but not _quite_ as lively as it had been before the coup. People glanced around wearily as if the soldiers might suddenly reappear for a second attempt.  
  
I made my way through the town until I found who I was looking for.  
  
“Sora-kun!” Yuna said happily.  
  
I smiled.

* * *

Kakashi was a _total_ pervert.  
  
The guy didn’t stop following me until I was on my way back to the castle, and I finally cracked.  
  
“Kakashi,” I said annoyed, “Will you stop fucking following me?”  
  
Kakashi didn’t even respond to the question, staying hidden in the same spot behind me. I had to turn around and point directly at him before he finally responded.  
  
“Huh.” Kakashi said calmly, “I thought I had your range figured out.”  
  
Kakashi hopped down from the tree and threaded his way towards me, a small red book in one hand, I should have known.  
  
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Kakashi said curiously.  
  
I sighed.  
  
“I didn’t really care at first,” I said dryly, “but you were starting to piss me off, why were you following me anyway, do you still think I’m going to gank you?”  
  
Kakashi hummed at the strange word.  
  
“I was just curious to see if you were leaving,” Kakashi said easily.  
  
I like how he completely avoided the other part of my question.  
  
“I _am_ going to leave soon, a day or two at most,” I admitted, before cheekily adding, “Besides, you saw how happy Yuna was, I couldn’t just leave _without_ saying goodbye.”  
  
“Happy enough to give you a discount at least,” Kakashi said dryly.  
  
“Hey,” I said offended, “I earned that discount fair and square.”  
  
Kakashi gave me an amused look.  
  
We walked back to the castle taking verbal jabs at each other and when we finally arrived I decided to bite the bullet. I couldn’t keep avoiding the guy, I had shit to do, and a future to prepare for. I asked Kakashi to take me up to see Kakeru and he agreed easily enough, although he clearly intended on being there during the discussion.  
  
I could feel several signatures inside the throne room, one of which was Lee, another was Korega. I guess it was his turn to guard the King, there was no sign of Michiru or Hikaru. Naruto and Sakura were likewise missing, they were probably guarding the others.  
  
I stepped into the throne room.  
  
“Hey, Kakeru!” I said cheerfully, “I’ve come to make sure you weren’t becoming a statue again before I go off on an adventure.”  
  
Kakeru paused his conversation with Korega.  
  
“Sora-kun,” Kakeru said kindly, “It has been several days since I saw you last, I had wondered where you had gotten to.”  
  
The last time I had seen him was the night I had killed his oldest friend, but he didn’t sound mad at least, I guess he didn’t blame me too much. Lee was watching us with wide eyes, and I gave him a wave. He smiled brightly before returning it but didn’t move from his post by the wall, he was still on the job.  
  
“I’ve been avoiding you,” I said honestly, “but life has brought us together one last time, let us make the most of it buddy.”  
  
Korega blew a sharp breath out of his nose at the comment, but Kakeru just laughed.  
  
We talked for a while, and he told me how they were recovering from the coup. Michiru and Hikaru were apparently in the city with Naruto and Sakura. Apparently the last of the wandering ninja had been seen hanging around the docks still injured and looking for a ride back to the continent but she had made no aggressive moves and so the guards had left her well alone, even an injured ninja could kill them all with ease.  
  
“You said you were going on an adventure,” Kakeru said curiously, sometime later. “Where do you intend to go?”  
  
I knew _where_ I wanted to go, kind of, but I didn’t know if it existed here or not. It was a mountain in one of the video game spinoffs of the main series that I couldn’t remember the name of, but it supposedly had a very noticeable effect on chakra.  
  
“Maybe you can help me with that, Kakeru!” I said hopefully, “I can’t remember the name of the place, but I’m looking for a mountain that stops all Chakra from working near it, ring any bells?”  
  
I noted that Kakashi tilted his head in thought.  
  
“A mountain that stops Chakra?” Kakeru murmured, “Was there anything else noteworthy about it?”  
  
Well, that wasn’t good, was it not well known or did it just not exist. What else had the game been about? Dragons? Dragons.  
  
“Dragons!” I said cheerfully, “Water, Fire, Earth, Lightning, Wind.”  
  
I ticked them all off on my fingers, one after another.  
  
“Ah,” Kakeru said immediately, “Mount Koryū, in the Land of Mountains.”  
  
I knew that was the name as soon as I heard it.  
  
“Your amazing, Kakeru.” I said honestly, “I’m pretty sure that’s it, it sounds familiar at least, where is the Land of Mountains in relation to _here_ exactly?”  
  
I grinned sheepishly at him, and he looked amused.  
  
He ended up sending someone for a map and Kakeru pointed it out, he also pointed out where we were, right in the middle of the fucking ocean. I was so far away from the Land of Mountains I was almost better off trying to travel to the moon instead.  
  
“Kakeru,” I said resignedly, “How long do you think it would take me to get there?”  
  
Kakeru looked even more amused the bastard, I couldn’t _believe_ this betrayal.  
  
“Six months? More depending on the route, ten is more likely.” Kakeru guessed, “I don’t know exactly how fast you intend to travel.”  
  
Six-to-ten months to get there, or more, I glanced over at Kakashi.  
  
“How long would it take you to get there at ninja travel speed?” I asked curiously.  
  
Kakashi glanced over at the map again and did some rough calculations in his head.  
  
“Straight through no breaks? A month from here, that’s including the ship back to the mainland.” Kakashi said thoughtfully, “Casual travel speed would take two-four months?”  
  
Interesting. I could cut the time down as long as I continued to get faster along the way. I had two years before I needed to be near Taki. Where exactly was that? I studied the map but couldn’t find it.  
  
“Where is the, uh, waterfall place?” I stumbled, was it actually _called_ the Land of the Waterfalls? I couldn’t say Takigakure because I shouldn’t know what it was called.  
  
“The Land of Waterfalls is here,” Kakeru said curiously, “Takigakure is somewhere around here, I could be wrong it is well hidden, supposedly.”  
  
Kakeru, I fucking love you.  
  
I studied the map, the Land of the Waterfalls was not quite between the Land of Stone and the Land of Fire, but it was close. I bet they were happy about that if they were just a little bit further down they would have had a hell of a time during that stone-leaf war, the Land of Rain wasn’t so lucky, however.  
  
Six-to-ten months to Mount Koryū, and then it was only about a third of that same distance between the mountain and Taki. So a year and a half if I wanted to be safe, I think that was just before the Suna-Leaf exams? It fit together almost _perfectly_ , provided I didn’t die somewhere along the way.  
  
Looks like I was going after the Dragonblade after all.

* * *

Quest Unlocked  
Acquire the Dragonblade.  
Reward  
???  
Failure  
None.

* * *

There was no capture, enslavement, or death for this one, I’ll take what I can get.  
  
I nodded decisively and stood back up.  
  
“Well looks like I’m going to Mount Koryū.” I said cheerfully, “When’s the next boat back to the mainland?”  
  
Kakeru smiled at my cheer.  
  
“Tomorrow, I believe,” Kakeru said thoughtfully, before glancing at Korega for confirmation.  
  
Korega nodded in agreement and I smiled at the man.  
  
“Well its been fun Kakeru, but this is where we part ways,” I said dramatically, “Try to get out more often will you? Staying up in this stuffy castle all the time can’t be good for your health.”  
  
Kakeru just laughed.

* * *

Quest Completed.  
Save the King.  
Reward  
$10,000.  
Reputation with Land of the Moon – Exalted.  
Reputation with Kakeru Tsuki – Exalted.  
Reputation with Michiru Tsuki – Exalted.  
Reputation with Hikaru Tsuki – Exalted.  
Reputation with Rock Lee – Exalted.  
Reputation with Kakashi – Good.  
Reputation with Sakura – Good.  
Reputation with Naruto – Friendly.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 9  
> Health Points - 430/430  
> Mana Points - 898/898  
> Vitality 43 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 47 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 89 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 25 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 19 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 78 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.50 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 13 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 13 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 11.25 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 12.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 62  
> Perception Rating - 25  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $10,068.


	10. Dreaming of Bodyguards

I wasn’t really the type for long goodbyes, but I made sure to give everyone I had met while here at least a word before I left. Lee actually hunted me down the next morning before I could leave and thanked me profusely for what I had done. It was the first time we had really talked after everything had happened, and I found him quite easy to get along with.  
  
Naruto was as energetic as ever and made me promise to drop by Konoha sometime in the future. Sakura wanted me to do something similar, but for different reasons, primarily to show Tsunade my bizarre technique, I told her I would think about it. I had no intention of displaying any weird techniques to the Hokage unless I was getting something out of it, _especially_ while Danzo was still hanging around. I had already given Yuna a long goodbye yesterday, so all that was left was to find out where on this boat I would be sleeping.  
  
I found Karenbana at the docks talking to one of the ship’s crew. Her knee was still bandaged, and she was still limping. She looked pretty annoyed with whatever the man was telling her, but he had an expression on his face like he couldn’t do anything about it. Karenbana didn’t look like she was about to kill anybody so I chanced going over.  
  
“Hey,” I chirped, “Kakeru said I was getting a free ride back to the mainland, can you help a man out?”  
  
Karenbana stared at me with large pink eyes. I noted distantly that she was ludicrously short, like under five-foot short, really, _really_ short. How embarrassing, I wonder if she’d _ever_ figure out the mystery of what was on the top shelf?  
  
 _I_ knew what was up there.  
  
“Yes, Sora-san, correct? I’ve received word of you already.” The man said simply, “Please feel free to board at your leisure. We leave in an hour.”  
  
I nodded in thanks.  
  
“Come on, then, let’s get off this island,” I said cheerfully and bravely put my hand on the ninja's shoulder.  
  
Karenbana let me keep my arm as I turned her towards the ship, and the shipping-guy made a strangled noise in his throat but didn’t make any move to stop either of us as we slowly made our way onto the ship. I let go of her shoulder immediately after she had turned around, just in case.  
  
“I’m glad you didn’t chop my hand off,” I said honestly, “That would have been super awkward.”  
  
Karenbana didn’t say anything; she just silently followed me onto the ship. I refrained from needling her, more out of self-preservation than anything. This was my _last_ good deed, Kakeru. I’ll get her off your island, buddy.  
  
I looked around the ship for a moment, it was as big as a cruise liner, not that I’d ever been on one and made mostly of metal. I had absolutely _no_ idea where I was supposed to go, but I was assuming that I must have had a room to sleep in at least, so I just looked for the nearest guy that looked like he worked here.  
  
“Hey, buddy, I’m Sora.” I said smoothly, “Where am I staying while I’m on this thing?”  
  
The man, Satou, judging by the name floating about his head, smiled pleasantly.  
  
“Yes, yes, of course.” Satou said happily, “I’ve heard of you. We have a room prepared, please follow me.”  
  
He’d _heard_ of me, how about that, was I famous? Fuck yeah.  
  
Satou led me down into the ship, and I awkwardly noted that Karenbana was still following me. I got you onto the ship, what more did you want from me? Go, do your ninja thing and hide somewhere!  
  
We eventually ended up in front of a small door that in turn, led to a rather small but comfortable looking room. I honestly expected worse considering this was a cargo ship. There was a bed, a small circular window with a view of the ocean, and that was about it.  
  
What more could a man ask for? A second window? Fuck off.  
  
Satou rattled off directions to the nearest bathroom, the eating hall, and several other locations on the ship. He also said that the area containing cargo was off-limits, no idea why he told me that I had no intention of going anywhere near the shipments.  
  
Then he left me with Karenbana.  
  
“Hey,” I said awkwardly, “What’s your name anyway?”  
  
Karenbana stared at me silently for almost ten seconds before pushing past me into the small room. I turned around slowly to find her sitting in the corner of the room on the floor with her arms crossed and the little bag by her side. I stared at her, but she didn’t say anything.  
  
How rude.  
  
I stepped into the room and shut the door before flopping down onto the small bed. It wasn’t as comfortable as the bed in the castle, but it was still infinitely better than laying on the dirt and sand in the forest.  
  
We sat in silence for almost half an hour before I finally cracked.  
  
“Hey, why haven’t you tried to kill me yet?” I said curiously.  
  
That seemed to get a reaction.  
  
“Why didn’t you tell them I was on the balcony?” Karenbana said quietly, “You knew I was there.”  
  
I had just killed someone, and I didn’t feel like immediately being responsible for another person’s death. I didn’t say any of that; instead, I just shrugged.  
  
“I’d say sorry for shooting you in the knee,” I offered, “but I thought you were about to kill pinkie.”  
  
Karenbana scrunched up her brow at the comment.  
  
“Why did you aim for the _knee_?” Karenbana said, annoyed, “This is going to be a pain in the ass to get fixed.”  
  
“I was aiming for your ankle actually, you just moved,” I said cheekily.  
  
“Idiot.” Karenbana murmured darkly.  
  
“No, you,” I said immediately.  
  
Karenbana scoffed, and then we fell into another uncomfortable silence, but I quickly grew impatient, fine, let’s clear the air a bit.  
  
“Sorry about your teammates,” I said honestly. “They seemed like real stand up guys.”  
  
I honestly wished we could have done the entire thing without killing them, Karenbana scoffed.  
  
“Want me to fix it for you?” I said curiously, but she didn’t reply. “Your knee, not your teammates, they are super dead.”  
  
It was pushing the line, but she was pretty stubborn, almost a minute went by before she spoke again.  
  
“You’re the one that reversed the petrification on the king,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
“Guilty,” I admitted. “Offers still on the table.”  
  
I wiggled my fingers at her to lighten the atmosphere a bit, but it had the opposite effect.  
  
Karenbana shot up in blinding speed and forced my hand away from her roughly. I stared at her in confusion for a moment, before realizing that she had seen me use Line Spear on Shabadaba. Oh, and he had also shot her in the knee that one time.  
  
“I wasn’t going to shoot you again,” I said dryly. “I could have done that the other day, or even while you were arguing with that guy before.”  
  
Karenbana’s grip tightened for a second before she let go.  
  
“Fix my knee,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
I wagged my finger in her general direction but made sure _not_ to point it at her, and she narrowed her eyes.  
  
“What’s your name?” I asked again.  
  
I really didn’t want to accidentally call her by her name before she had actually given it to me.  
  
“Karenbana,” Karenbana said tightly. “Fix my knee.”  
  
I patted the bed by my feet, and after a moment of tense silence, she slowly sat down, but her eyes were locked onto my hands.  
  
“The technique is bright green, don’t freak out,” I said dryly.  
  
I slowly reached out and used Heal and watched as her health quickly rise back to full. Karenbana turned to stare down at her knee for a moment before unwrapping the bandages, but the skin was completely unmarked, she pulled the collar of her shirt forward as well.  
  
I flopped back on the bed, hoping she didn’t decide to stab me or something now that she was better, but she just remained on the edge of the bed quietly.  
  
“What are you going to do now?” I asked thoughtfully.  
  
“I don’t know.” Karenbana huffed.  
  
“Karenbana,” I drew the name out slowly and received a narrowed eyed stare. “How much do you guys usually charge for a long-term bodyguard mission?”  
  
“Define long-term,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
“What is this, answer a question with a question day?” I said wryly, “Six months?”  
  
Karenbana frowned, was that a really long time for a mission? What was the usual mission length for the bigger ones? A month or two? Six shouldn’t be _that_ strange.  
  
“Guard against what kind of opposition?” Karenbana asked evenly.  
  
Hm, bandits might try and gank me, but I think I could handle them. It was any encounters with ninja that I was worried about, but I wasn’t exactly seeking out fights with them, not yet at least. I don’t know what Mount Koryū was like in this world though, either the dragons, the red-haired girl, and her crazy brother were alive, and I might have to fight them, or they might not be, and I wouldn’t.  
  
The quest had revealed that the Dragonblade _did_ actually exist here, or at least I was taking it as proof that it did. I mean, the _mountain_ existed, and there was apparently a story about dragons involved because Kakeru had immediately known what I was referring too.  
  
“I’m not seeking out any fights with ninjas, not _yet_ at least,” I said thoughtfully, “But if I _do_ get attacked by one, I would certainly like my bodyguard to _actually_ save me from them and not stand back because I underpaid them.”  
  
Karenbana just watched me silently.  
  
“Assume ninja will appear at some point and you will have to beat them up, what’s a full team worth for that type of mission?” I asked curiously.  
  
“Two-hundred-thousand Ryo for a three-man team per two months,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
How much was that in moon dollars?  
  
I silently opened my inventory and activated the money icon to select the amount in Ryo before switching currency. Just under two thousand moon dollars per two months, or one-thousand moon dollars monthly, that seemed cheap as hell for _one_ supernatural bodyguard, let alone _three_ of them.  
  
“Karenbana, be my ninja-butler-slash-bodyguard-slash-sparring-partner for one-hundred-thousand a month until I run out of money.” I offered “Deal?”  
  
Silence.  
  
“Deal,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
Nice.

* * *

“Karenbana?” I asked curiously. “Why are you so fucking _short,_ though?”  
  
Karenbana stared at me with dangerous eyes.  
  
“What _exactly_ are you trying to say?” Karenbana said darkly.  
  
Two days of being stuck together for long periods had done wonders for our growing friendship. Actually, if I’m being honest, it just allowed me plenty of time to find all the buttons that I wasn’t supposed to be pressing.  
  
“You're like in your _twenties_ or something, but you’re still under five-foot.” I said, amazed, “It is _remarkable_.”  
  
“Lots of people are short,” Karenbana said, annoyed. “and I’m twenty-two.”  
  
“Hey, I’m twenty-two as well.” I shrugged, “But _I’m_ not fun-sized.”  
  
Karenbana narrowed her eyes at me.  
  
“What the hell does _fun-sized_ mean?” Karenbana demanded.  
  
I wasn’t explaining that one, I enjoyed remaining in one piece.  
  
“It's two weeks until we make land at Sakai,” Karenbana said suspiciously. “But you still haven’t told me where we are going _after_ that.”  
  
I had already planned out the journey back with Kakeru, well, a rough outline of it, at least.  
  
“You ever heard of Mount Koryū?” I asked curiously.  
  
Karenbana scrunched up her face in thought before shaking her head.  
  
“It’s in the Land of the Mountains,” I said smoothly, before raising an eyebrow at her. “Know where that is?”  
  
“That’s on the other side of the continent, near the Land of Iron,” Karenbana said quietly. “We would need to cross Wind country first, then Birds? Vegetables?”  
  
“Land of Vegetables, I want to make sure we stick right on the outskirts of the Land of Demons after that, and Bird Country would mean more travel time overall,” I said easily.  
  
That’s what Kakeru had told me anyway when I said I didn’t want to go through the middle of a place with fucking ‘demon’ in its name, that’s where that shadowy bastard was.  
  
Karenbana pressed a finger into her cheek, thoughtfully.  
  
“If we’re avoiding the Land of Demons, that means we are going through the Land of Neck?” Karenbana guessed, and I nodded.  
  
“Then the Land of Woods is the last country before we get to the Land of the Mountains,” I said easily. “That’s pretty much the plan anyway.”  
  
We fell into a small silence before she spoke up again, there wasn’t much else to do besides talk, after all, she had long since moved from the floor onto the end of the bed. The metal floor of the ship kind of sucked, and it was cold too.  
  
“Why do you want to go to Mount Koryū?” Karenbana said curiously, plucking at the sheet between her toes.  
  
I watched her wiggle them around for a moment while wondering how much I should tell her. If I told her _nothing,_ she would probably resent me, and if I lied, she would be pretty pissed off when she figured it out later. It’s not like she could even go _into_ the mountain herself, because of the chakra draining effect.  
  
“Why are you staring at my feet?” Karenbana asked with a smirk. “Idiot.”  
  
I blinked before glancing up at her face.  
  
“I’d tell you what I was thinking about, but I’d need to see your ID first,” I said dryly. “You look a little young, missy.”  
  
Karenbana narrowed her eyes at me dangerously.  
  
“I am _twenty-two_!” Karenbana said darkly.  
  
I ignored the comment because I knew it would piss her off.  
  
“There’s a legendary sword hidden in Mount Koryū,” I said smoothly, “I intend to acquire it before I start my ass-kicking conquest across the land.”  
  
Karenbana stared at me with wide eyes.  
  
“A legendary sword?” Karenbana said intently, “What is it called?”  
  
I smirked at how curious she was. I was going to make her work for it.  
  
“I’ll answer your questions,” I said slowly, before pointing at her hair. “When you tell me what you did with the real Karenbana!”  
  
I shouted the last part dramatically, and she just stared at me.  
  
“What?” Karenbana said, confused.  
  
“Did you think you could _trick_ me?! Take off that wig this instant! It looks stupid!” I demanded, “It’s not even real hair!”  
  
“No.” Karenbana pouted.  
  
“Take it off, or I’ll never tell you about the amazing magical sword that can do _all_ of the things!” I teased.  
  
“Fuck off,” Karenbana said immediately.  
  
I crossed my arms and leaned back against the bedhead, and this time it was Karenbana that cracked first.  
  
“Fine!” Karenbana said darkly, “If you laugh, I’m going to throw you off the ship.”  
  
I mimed zipping my mouth shut, and Karenbana tugged the wig off without fanfare. It was just a couple of inches of brown hair, cut close to her head, how disappointing.  
  
“Lame, I thought you were going to be bald or have an eagles nest or something else hilarious.” I pouted.  
  
“Idiot.” Karenbana muttered.  
  
I noted that she made no move to put her wig back on, though. Brown hair pink eyes; it was a strange combination, mostly because pink eyes didn’t exist wherever I had come from.  
  
“ _Well?_ ” Karenbana demanded.  
  
I tilted my head at her and shrugged.  
  
“It looks fine to me. I suppose it would look pretty if you grew it out, though,” I said easily.  
  
“Idiot!” Karenbana said, cheeks red. “I’m not talking about my hair, tell me about the _sword_.”  
  
I blinked in surprise.  
  
“Oh,” I said sheepishly, “It’s called the Dragonblade, it can do a bunch of things.”  
  
Uh, what did it do again? It had been a long time since I’d played the game.  
  
“It's super sharp, and it can cut _through_ chakra and uh, absorb it? Oh! It allows you to use all five elements.” I rattled off from memory, “Although it’s a pretty small blade if I recall, about as long as your arm maybe?”  
  
Karenbana just stared with wide eyes.  
  
“How the hell do you know about this?” Karenbana said intently, “Why haven’t any of the hidden villages recovered it yet?”  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“There’s this bizarre effect around the mountain that drains all chakra,” I explained, “They wouldn’t be able to get close to it before passing out from chakra exhaustion or some nonsense like that.”  
  
“How do _we_ get it then, if you hadn’t realized we both have chakra,” Karenbana said frowning.  
  
“ _You_ might have chakra,” I said smoothly, “But _I_ most certainly do not.”  
  
“Of course you do,” Karenbana said strangely, “I’ve seen you use multiple techniques, you used medical ninjutsu on me two days ago.”  
  
“Nah, that’s a different form of energy, besides I’m not even a ninja. I don’t have _any_ chakra at all,” I said honestly, “Not even a _teeny-tiny_ little Karenbana sized bit.”  
  
Karenbana didn’t appreciate the comment and punched me in the arm.  
  
“Ow.” I pouted.  
  
She didn’t have to hit me _that_ hard.  
  
“Fine, you think you can withstand the chakra draining effect,” Karenbana said seriously, “I can’t say the same for myself.”  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“How long is it going to take us to get there anyway? Six months? More if we stop to do some training along the way.” I said easily, “I’ll _almost_ be out of money by then, and you’ll be six-hundred-thousand Ryo richer, you’ll be able to retire or something if you don’t feel like waiting for me to come back from Mount Koryū.”  
  
Karenbana frowned, and we fell into another silence.  
  
“What do you plan to do once you have the Dragonblade?” Karenbana asked quietly.  
  
“I have a _very_ specific list of people's asses that need to be kicked in a very specific order.” I said carefully, “I’m going to travel around and do that.”  
  
Karenbana looked curious at my sudden vague answer.  
  
“You’ll tell me about this priceless legendary sword, and where it's hidden,” Karenbana said intently, “But you won’t tell me who you’re going after? That is _very_ strange.”  
  
I just shrugged.  
  
“It's super important. It’s not really the kind of thing you can tell a woman on the first date,” I said cheekily, “Not even one as cute as you.”  
  
Her cheeks went red again, and I patted myself on the back for a job well done.  
  
“Well, I just told you all of my secrets,” I said smoothly, “Tell me some of yours, ninja girl.”  
  
Karenbana sat back against the wall again and tucked her chin into her knees.  
  
“Like what?” Karenbana murmured.  
  
Hm.  
  
“Where are you from? How’d you end up becoming a ninja? What type of ninja are you?” I suggested, “Stuff like that, we are going to be working together for a while, we may as well get to know each other.”  
  
“I was born in the Land of Flowers,” Karenbana said evenly, “It’s near the Land of Earth.”  
  
I’m glad she elaborated because I had absolutely no fucking idea about any flower place.  
  
“When I was, uh, nine?” Karenbana sounded unsure, “The Uemon Clan recruited me.”  
  
Karenbana didn’t elaborate on that part and judging by how her summary said “forcibly recruited at a young age” it probably wasn’t pleasant.  
  
“I trained when I was told, I went on missions when I was told, I fought when I was told.” Karenbana shrugged, “Most of them were bastards, but there were few good ones.”  
  
It was interesting to see her talk about it, almost like she had distanced herself from any attachment in some way, or perhaps she’d never really had one in the first place.  
  
“The Uemon Clan had made a few enemies over the years, and they ended up being wiped out while we were out on a mission years ago.” Karenbana said, amused, “A survivor of one of the recruitment missions hired one of the big five to take them down; that’s what we thought at the time anyway.”  
  
A nail that’s sticking up gets hammered down.  
  
“Ishidate, Kongo, and I were the last ones left, so we stuck together.” Karenbana said simply, “Ishidate was a complete piece of shit, but Kongo was alright when he wasn’t is one of his moods.”  
  
Not a fan of Ishidate, huh? He _had_ sounded pretty intimidating when he ganked us in the forest and took Michiru. It made me wonder why the three had taken on such a high-profile mission in the first place, three non-sponsored ninjas assassinating a King?  
  
“Ishidate was a piece of shit, Kongo was alright sometimes,” I said thoughtfully, “What was _Karenbana_ like?”  
  
“Angry,” Karenbana said quietly. “Lonely.”  
  
I thought I could understand a little, not about the ninja nonsense, but the loneliness. I’d never been one to make friends easily; my personality came off as pretty abrasive to most people. Kakeru was an exception in that regard. I think he was just secretly happy that someone had the audacity to talk to him like he was an actual human being, that and the whole petrification thing probably gave me some leeway.  
  
“Well, it’s you and me now, buddy.” I said quietly, “We can be lonely together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 9  
> Health Points - 430/430  
> Mana Points - 922/922  
> Vitality 43 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 47 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 89 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 25 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 19 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 80 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.50 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 14.25 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 13 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 12.5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 13.5 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 62  
> Perception Rating - 25  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $9,068.


	11. Dreaming of Sunagakure

When we finally arrived at Sakai, I was well and truly sick of ships, tiny rooms, and single beds.  
  
We ended up spending a lot of time up on the deck because of two of those things, but we couldn’t really get away from the _ship_ in any meaningful way. Karenbana was quickly becoming immune to my obvious baiting as well, but I had only just begun to dip into my well of tricks, and it was almost time to bring some of them out.  
  
Even so, when we drifted up to the port city of Sakai and I took that _first_ step off the ship onto the sand? I don’t know what to tell you; it was fucking _incredible_.  
  
Sakai wasn’t particularly large or impressive; there was lots of sand, the ocean, and more sand. _Just_ what you would expect of a city on the coastline of the Land of Wind. The buildings were a mixture of stone and wood, but I was almost sure that the deeper into the desert we went, the less wood and more stone there would be.  
  
We were going to need some desert clothes, not that I had any idea what that kind of thing actually _was_ in practice. I just assumed it would be a hooded robe or perhaps a hat of some sort. Karenbana took off choosing the supplies when I started talking about the hats.  
  
She ended up selecting a pair of thin hooded traveling cloaks, cloth wraps, and a bunch of other stuff that I would never have even thought to bring before she disappeared, leaving me to pay for it all. I found a bunch of containers for water and food and stuffed most of them in my inventory while she wasn’t there, and eventually, she returned with a pair of traveling packs.  
  
I watched with interest as she spent the next fifteen minutes, packing them neatly with everything we might need before tossing one of them to me.  
  
It wasn’t very heavy right now, but I am absolutely sure if I had needed to carry this when I first arrived in this world, I would have _died_. We didn’t set out until the next day, and Karenbana made sure to double-check both bags before we left Sakai behind. I realized very quickly that Sakai had tricked me completely.  
  
I fucking _hated_ the desert.

* * *

We walked for _hours_ every day, rested when we were lucky enough to find shade, usually provided by exceptionally tall sand dunes, and then walked for hours more. I didn’t really get tired, just walking, and I didn’t need to sleep at all, so even in these conditions, I was okay physically.  
  
I needed to at _least_ be running before it did anything stamina wise.  
  
Karenbana, on the other hand, wasn’t running on bullshit game magic, and I had no idea just how long a ninja could walk in these conditions per day, so I made sure to give up as soon as I thought she looked tired.  
  
I was such a gentleman.  
  
We would set up the small tent that Karenbana insisted we buy and then camped there until the next day, sometimes having to dig ourselves out if too much sand ended up at the entrance. I had seen enough movies to expect giant roiling clouds of sand and vicious storms that would strip us down to our bones, but there was none of that, it was just endless walking, heat, and _fucking_ sand.  
  
I always waited an hour or so until I thought it wouldn’t be too suspicious and then started doing my physical training for the day in the shade of a dune. I spent most of my training time running, I’d already dumped all of my stat points in Speed, and I _really_ wanted to reach the level of Speed a ninja had.  
  
I would need it soon anyway.  
  
Karenbana did some training of her own, although it was mostly practicing what looked like shadow boxing to me. Then a complicated series of acrobatic maneuvers that I insisted she show me how to do almost an entire week passed before she stopped telling me to fuck off and finally caved.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Acrobatics.  
  
It was a bright spot on an otherwise unending series of days walking across a hot sandy desert. If the first _day_ was enough for me to realize how much I hated the desert, the first _week_ was enough for me to consider giving up. The _second week_ though, after trudging through the sand for countless hours, spending hours at a time with sand in my pants and between my ass cheeks, I had had _enough_.  
  
We were barely _halfway_ to Sunagakure; this was fucking _lame_. Sand _sucks_ , its _course_ , it’s _rough,_ and it gets _everywhere_! What the _fuck_ Gaara, fix your _stupid_ country! You have _sand_ powers for god's sake, take all the sand, and throw it in the _fucking_ ocean or something you sandy _bitch_!  
  
 _Fuck!_  
  
“Stop being such a baby,” Karenbana said, annoyed.  
  
I rolled over in the tent and found myself face to face with her, my frustration boiling over.  
  
“You’re _short_ ; your hair is _short_ , your tempers _short_ , everything about you is _short_!” I said meanly, “Short, short, _short!”_  
  
Karenbana punched me in the face.  
  
It wasn’t _ninja_ strength hard, but it was hard enough to go straight through Iron hide and for a flash of pain to shoot through my nose for a brief _painful_ moment before it vanished.  
  
So I headbutted her.  
  
It quickly turned into a kicking and punching contest that I immediately began losing horribly, she was _tiny_ but far stronger _and_ so much faster than I was. All I had on my side was the dubious advantage of size and reach which may have worked back in my world, but it did exactly fuck all here.  
  
The size difference between us ended up being entirely useless anyway because when she ended up on top of me, it very suddenly stopped being a fight and started being something that involved a lot more kissing.  
  
I even managed to forget about the sand, at least for a little while.

* * *

Fuck Sakai, _Sunagakure,_ was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.  
  
The outside of the city was surrounded in a massive natural stone wall that had to of been made smooth through some mysterious method; it was perfectly cut into massive platforms that almost looked like a staircase for a giant. I could see people standing evenly across each of the ‘stairs,’ and when I got closer, I quickly found that they were ninja, although there was _some_ non-ninja there as well. The staircase was split in the middle as if a section had been cut out vertically that left a path straight into the village. Inside that craggy mess of ridges and stone was a city where we could get the hell away from this god damned sand.  
  
Even the two high-level dudes that were standing at the entrance looked like _angels_.  
  
“Finally!” I said cheerfully, “I thought I’d never see anything but sand again.”  
  
Karenbana remained quiet in the face of so many Suna ninja, possibly gearing up to defend me from a sudden attack or something.  
  
“Welcome to Sunagakure,” The ninja on the left said pleasantly. “I am Yura, what is the purpose of your business here?”  
  
I smiled at the man that could only be the gatekeeper of heaven, heaven without sand.  
  
“Yura, man, I don’t know how you guys do it,” I said honestly, “I’ve gained massive respect for you Suna dudes, this sand nonsense is hardcore.”  
  
Yura raised his eyebrow at the spiel of words I was unloading on the guy, but it was just so nice to have someone other then Karenbana to speak to after an entire month.  
  
“We are headed to the Land of Vegetables really; this is just a mid-way stop to get out of the desert for a little while.” I said cheerfully, I waved at Karenbana, “This is my ninja bodyguard, she’s pretty cool."  
  
Karenbana still hadn’t relaxed at all even at the introduction, Yura just looked vaguely amused, probably because there was _hundreds_ of ninja directly above us on the wall, he wasn’t worried at all.  
  
“I see,” Yura said thoughtfully, “The Land of Vegetables. Where did you two come from? Sakai? The Land of Rivers? Tea Country?”  
  
“Sakai.” I said easily, “Nice enough place, but I _totally_ underestimated the distance between there to here, though.”  
  
Yura nodded understandingly.  
  
“First time crossing the Land of Wind can be challenging,” Yura said sympathetically, “What are your names?”  
  
This guy was fairly good, I’ll admit, he was really easy to talk to, it was probably why they had him on gate duty, to ferry out as much information as possible before letting anyone suspicious into their village.  
  
“Oh!” I said, surprised, “I’m Sora, this is Karenbana, were both from the Land of the Moon.”  
  
Yura glanced up at an angle for a moment before turning back with a smile.  
  
“Excellent,” Yura said pleasantly, “You will be permitted to enter Sunagakure, but there are several rules you must be aware of.”  
  
I smiled happily and nodded at him.  
  
“Anything for the man that’s getting me out of all this sand!” I said cheerfully.  
  
Yura laughed lightly.

* * *

Sunagakure was an interesting place, architecture wise.  
  
The buildings were all made from sandstone, stone, and even wood; however, they were _very_ strangely shaped. Tall, round, and multistorey with windows carved out all across them, they almost looked like giant clay pots, and the city itself was massive and surrounded by a natural barrier of craggy mountainous terrain.  
  
The layout of the city was interesting as well, from what I could see from the ground, divided into sections by large walls that came out of the middle of the city at an angle. In the middle of the walls was a large bulbous tower, which I was guessing was the Kazekage’s place.  
  
We were escorted through the village by Yura, and another ninja had taken his place at the gate without question. Yura seemingly had a hotel in mind because he brought us to a tall building just off from the main street and oversaw us getting a room.  
  
“It was nice meeting you both,” Yura said pleasantly, “Please remember to follow the rules and enjoy your stay in Sunagakure.”  
  
I grinned at the man; he was pretty cool.  
  
“Thanks, Yura!” I said happily. “We won’t be here for that long anyway, maybe a week to build myself back up to braving more of that damn sand.”  
  
Yura laughed and then headed off with a quick farewell, Karenbana remained silent until we were shown where our room was, and the door was closed. Then she spent several minutes searching the room thoroughly, while I watched her curiously.  
  
“What are you doing?” I wondered. “Looking for a bathroom?”  
  
Karenbana scoffed at the silly comment.  
  
“I’m checking for anything strange, listening devices, seals, traps,” Karenbana said simply.  
  
I shrugged before striding over the bed and flopping down on it without fanfare, Karenbana watched me annoyed, she hadn’t searched that area yet.  
  
“Think you could have taken Yura?” I asked curiously.  
  
Karenbana then sat on the bed with a happy groan.  
  
“I don’t know the name, but he was either a Chunin or a Jounin,” Karenbana said happily. “It wouldn’t have mattered though; we would have gotten dog piled by all of the others.”  
  
I nodded in agreement.  
  
“He had almost as much chakra as Kakashi,” I said easily, “So he was probably a Jounin, most of the guys on the wall were Genin and Chunin, though.”  
  
I hadn’t actually revealed that I could sense chakra to her yet, so she turned to stare at me silently, eyes wide.  
  
“You can sense Chakra?” Karenbana wondered, “You didn’t tell me that.”  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“I haven’t told you a lot of things,” I said cheekily, “but there’s not exactly a lot of things to sense in the desert.”  
  
We fell into an extended silence; it was more comfortable now that we had spent a couple of weeks forced to deal with each other; it had also given me a lot of time to think. Training in the desert had been kind of shitty overall; I had barely made any progress compared to the first couple of weeks partially because my training time had been shorted dramatically for most of my skills.  
  
There were outliers though, Energy Sense and Iron Hide had been on permanently since before I had even left the Land of the Moon. They had both made significant progress, and because Mana Core, Mana Mastery, and Mana Recovery all gained EXP from using Mana in general, they had all been dragged up along with them, albeit some took longer to level than others.  
  
Meditate, Heal, Repair, and Stealth had all barely grown at all. I couldn’t meditate while walking and like eighty percent of the last month had been walking, I hadn’t needed to use Heal really, and Stealth didn’t work that well in broad daylight with the only person I could possibly hide from being five foot away from me at all times.  
  
Karenbana had been on edge for the first week, but I had continued to train Line Spear as often as I could, making sure to keep it as far away from her as possible. It was my only offensive technique, and I needed it strong enough to kill the unkillable. My other skills weren’t worth mentioning because the improvement either didn’t exist, or it was so small that it wasn’t noteworthy.  
  
My physicals had grown a decent amount, but still much slower then it had at the beginning, the effort required to level them up was getting harder and harder. I had already decided I wasn’t going to do anything while we were here, we would only be in Sunagakure for a week at most, and I was going to do my absolute best to enjoy it.

* * *

Leaving Sunagakure was the hardest thing I have ever done, but not turning back around after the first day back in the desert was even harder. If the thing that ended the world happened in the Land of the Wind, then I’ll be sending my prayers to the good guys from _anywhere_ fucking else.  
  
The trip from Sunagakure to the border of the Land of Vegetables was much the same as the one from Sakai, only _longer_.  
  
I’ll keep it brief, lots of sand, we walked, we trained, we slept, ad infinitum.  
  
When I saw that first hint of green in the distance, I almost wept. The temperature had actually stayed remarkably hot, even after we had crossed the border, and it wasn’t until we could no longer see the desert at all that it finally started to cool down.  
  
The Land of Vegetables was a rather green place; it was almost entirely forested, I was betting they had some kind of trade deal going with the Land of Wind involving wood. There were lots of elevated Stoney mountain paths that were broken up by the occasional large hill or giant rock formation. Most of the country seemed to be bordered by massive mountains, which Karenbana revealed was the border between Vegetable Country and Bird Country.  
  
There also seemed to be black smoke rising from towards the north-east. The fires must have been pretty big if we could see them from here, yikes. It was also in the direction of the capital, which was our next big stop before the Land of the Demons.  
  
“Is it a forest fire?” I asked curiously.  
  
It still seemed like it was several days away at our normal traveling Speed, but if it was a bushfire, I didn’t really want any part of that.  
  
“Not likely,” Karenbana said easily, “See how there are three mains sections, and the smoke is rising straight up?”  
  
I studied the area again; it did look like three small fires? Maybe?  
  
“It’s likely three small, deliberate fires, a forest fire would have a much larger block of smoke above it,” Karenbana said thoughtfully, as she drew out a more general shape with her hand.  
  
“Burning off crops?” I asked curiously.  
  
I didn’t know fuck all about farming, but that was something they did, right?  
  
“Wrong time of year,” Karenbana said, amused, “It _could_ be an attack of some kind, it's right around where the capital is.”  
  
Goddammit, I swear to god if some assholes were trying to fuck up my trip, I was going to go nuts.  
  
“Come on then,” I said resignedly, “If its ninjas, you can kick their asses for me.”  
  
Karenbana laughed.

* * *

Over the next two days, more and more rising smoke appeared. It was all in the same direction, singular thin streams that went straight up into the air. Someone was definitely lighting _something_ on fire, whatever the targets where they were hundreds of meters apart, at least. The only other thing of note was the largest craggy mass of stone I’d seen so far that stuck out far above the trees to our northeast.  
  
On the third day, we were attacked by _fucking_ ninja.  
  
“It depends,” I said easily, “I could probably beat up a couple of bandits now, right?”  
  
Karenbana just shrugged.  
  
“You’re actually getting better bizarrely quickly.” Karenbana said suspiciously, “It took me over a _decade_ to get as strong as I am right now.”  
  
“That’s stupid though, Lee could have definitely kicked your ass, and he is only like _fourteen_ at most.” I argued, “You must be doing training wrong or something.”  
  
Karenbana looked annoyed.  
  
“Which was one, Lee?” Karenbana demanded, “The orange one?”  
  
“No, the green one that killed Kongo.” I said immediately, “He was _almost_ as fast as Kakashi and Ishidate, and if he goes all out, like all the way, he would have likely been faster. Hell, he couldn’t even _use_ ninjutsu either before I fixed him.”  
  
Karenbana looked surprised at how strong a fourteen-year-old could possibly have been.  
  
“Fucking ninja villages.” Karenbana said, annoyed, “How do they get so strong so quickly?”  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“Lee uses stupidly heavy leg weights if I remember correctly,” I said curiously, “Did you see all those massive dents in the main chamber of the castle?”  
  
Karenbana nodded with her face scrunched up.  
  
“Each of those was like a single one of his weights.” I said honestly, “He’s fast as fuck.”  
  
Karenbana looked stunned at the idea.  
  
“That’s _ridiculous_!” Karenbana said, alarmed.  
  
I laughed.  
  
“Start wearing weights, then lazy ass, I need my ninja bodyguard to actually pull her weight.” I teased, before gesturing broadly to the trees.  
  
Karenbana narrowed her eyes at me for a moment before suddenly moving. In what had to be a fraction of a second, she had stepped in front of me and deflected a handful of shuriken in a shower of sparks.  
  
“Holy shit.” I said gleefully, “That was cool as fuck!”  
  
I had noticed the ninja coming ages ago, the range of Energy Sense was pretty large now. I’d told Karenbana about them straight away, and we had decided they were probably from the capital, so we just pretended not to know they were there. I was assuming that they were probably just on a patrol or something and would leave us alone after a while.  
  
It turns out that wasn’t the case because they had attacked us _completely_ unprovoked. I had felt one of them start to close in on us, which is why I had gestured at the trees in the first place. There were four of them, all about Genin level at best, which is why we hadn’t been too worried.  
  
Why the hell were Genin attacking us?  
  
“Two on the left, one on the right, one coming in behind us,” I said cheerfully.  
  
Karenbana dashed left into the trees with Speed I still couldn’t track visually. I felt her appear almost directly on top of one of the signatures, and it abruptly fell to the ground below before she immediately went after the other one.  
  
I had to dodge out of the way of another handful of shuriken that came spinning from next to a tree to my right. I was fast enough to get out of the way, but when the Genin dashed out of the trees towards me, I found it much harder to follow. The guy was tall, either a late teenager or early twenties, black bandana, black face mask, and no village symbol.  
  
That was all the time I had before the guy reached my position.  
  
I threw a straight punch at his face as he came into range, and he ducked underneath it, spun to his feet again, and then kicked me in the face. I felt pain erupt in my head and neck before I was sent stumbling sideways from the force.  
  
I took another swing at him when he came close again, and he smacked my hand out of the air before turning my face to the side with a blow that would have broken my neck a month ago. I was surviving purely because of Iron Hide at this point, and it was mitigating enough of the force for me to at least not immediately be killed.  
  
It _hurt_.  
  
His next punch spun me around, and I had the bright idea to try a roundhouse kick. The Genin simply ducked under it without even trying and then hit me with his own, properly chambered roundhouse kick sending me stumbling away again in pain.  
  
“Timeout!” I shouted.  
  
The Genin didn’t even pause for a second before continuing to beat the living shit out of me. I gave up on trying to win the fight and instead started trying to block his attacks. It kind of worked, the attacks hurt substantially less when they were on my arms or shins then directly to the face.  
  
Then the second Genin arrived.  
  
“This is an _honorable_ duel asshole!” I shouted, “Don’t even think about it!”  
  
Fighting two Genin was a very painful experience, but I managed to weather their attacks for almost ten seconds before I thought I saw an opening. My eyes widened, I dropped my guard and took a swing at the one on the left, and then Karenbana appeared with her foot buried in the guy’s face before I could land it.  
  
I stumbled back in dismay as she stole the _only_ hit I would have landed in the entire fight.  
  
Karenbana took the two Genin apart in less than ten seconds, _at the same time,_ and the end result was four unconscious ninjas tied up on the ground.  
  
Your level has increased by 1.  
  
“They kicked my ass.” I complained, “You’re a _terrible_ bodyguard.”  
  
Karenbana looked more animated then I had seen her since our ‘battle’ in the tent.  
  
“Hah!” Karenbana laughed, “I wanted to see if you could take the first guy down.”  
  
“What about the second one?” I demanded.  
  
Karenbana grinned toothily.  
  
“That was just funny,” Karenbana said cheekily.  
  
I narrowed my eyes at her, watching me get the shit kicked out of me was funny, huh?  
  
“Don’t be mad,” Karenbana said cutely, “You did rather good, and now we know you can _almost_ fight a weak Genin.”  
  
“I will _definitely_ get you back for this,” I vowed solemnly. “You _will_ pay dearly for this betrayal.”  
  
Karenbana just laughed again.  
  
“I’ll make it up to you, boss,” Karenbana said playfully.  
  
I scoffed and turned back to the ninja.  
  
“What do we do with these assholes?” I murmured. “Do we just leave them here?”  
  
Karenbana shrugged.  
  
“We could take them to the capital with us, but that’s a lot of Genin to carry,” Karenbana said easily.  
  
Yeah, fuck that.  
  
“Nope,” I said immediately and started walking again.  
  
“You don’t even want to ask them why they attacked us?” Karenbana said strangely.  
  
“What do ninja usually attack random people for?” I wondered, “Because the only thing I can think of is they don’t want us going in this direction.”  
  
“They are probably a part of whatever is going on with the fires,” Karenbana said, amused.  
  
“Ninja running around lighting fires near the capital of the Land of Vegetables,” I murmured, “Burning houses down? Farms maybe? Are they assaulting the city? Who rules this place, another King?”  
  
“A daimyo,” Karenbana said easily, “I’m not sure what his name is, though.”  
  
“What are the chances that this is a repeat of what happened at the Land of the Moon?” I asked curiously.  
  
Karenbana didn’t answer.

* * *

We stopped at the edge of the forest.  
  
The trees abruptly disappeared around the capital city of the Land of Vegetables, leaving a large, flat, plain of grass from here all the way to the city. The city had been built onto a large stone structure of bricks, leaving it raised off the ground, and the backdrop was framed with large mountains in the distance. There were farmlands and trees scattered all over the plains, with small houses dotting the landscape.  
  
There were also about fifteen separate fires that were close enough to see with many more in the distance, although most of them had already petered out. They were located at the houses and farms, which explained why there were so spread out. It was getting dark, and the idea of going into whatever clusterfuck was happening in the city sounded terrible, so we decided to camp in the forest for the night.  
  
A fire had seemed like a bad idea to give the circumstances, so we just ended up finding a small overhang near that massive stone formation we spotted earlier. Karenbana was already sleeping, and I was using the time to figure out the next skill I wanted to make. The fight with those two Genin had made it _very_ clear that I was still far too weak to fight the immortal duo. If I failed to kill them right at the start, I would get deleted within seconds.  
  
So I went back to theory crafting. I still needed a skill that would allow me to visually track ninja-level Speed, like a reflex boosting skill of some sort, and an energy defense that I could use to block attacks, along with a teleport skill for evasion.  
  
If we had to fight in the city tomorrow, what would I get the most use out of when it would undoubtedly still be weak.  
  
Teleporting would probably be extremely expensive and likely have a long cast time, an energy shield would probably be moderately expensive and block less than a single point of damage at the start. A reflex boosting skill would have a large drain per second like Iron Hide and Energy Sensing had started with, but my mana reduction _might_ take care of that.  
  
Reflex booster then.  
  
What would that look like exactly? Who had a skill that increased visual tracking speed? A? His lightning aura thing did something like that, although it might just be a speed increase overall. The eight gates that Lee and Gai used increased it along with Speed as well.  
  
Sharingan did it, Byakugan did it too, I think, I remember Neji punching like a hundred spiders out of mid-air or something in the show. I wanted to be able to still use Stealth, though, and being covered in lightning wasn’t ideal; an eight gates styled technique would likewise ruin any chance of being sneaky.  
  
What about other forms of media, I’d stolen the Esuna equivalent from final fantasy, what did they have for reflexes? Haste? I think that was _overall_ Speed again. There was whatever Neo was using to dodge bullets in the matrix. I was struggling with this one; most of the speed-related things were purely overall enhancements.  
  
But the common theme amongst most of these was that you needed to be able to see something to react to it. I pushed Mana slowly up my chest and towards my face. I had to be careful, pushing Mana into my entire head seemed pretty dangerous back when I’d done it the first time, but this felt far more worrying for some reason, my eyes were rather squishy things.  
  
I mentally struggled against the fear of my eyes suddenly melting or exploding for a long moment  
  
I very slowly moved it up to my eyes, my Vision flashed white, and I suddenly couldn’t see, for a brief, horrifying moment, I’d thought I had blinded myself before I realized it was actually just the pale blue light of my Mana that I saw and not some kind of white blindness.  
  
“Fuck.” I murmured, feeling my heart thud in my chest.  
  
I moved the Mana around carefully and tried to make it slightly denser. I started my now standard mantra of concentration and intent.  
  
Reflexes, Sight, Speed, Vision, Reflexes, Sight, Speed, Vision.  
  
I continued the chant for almost an hour, while minutely increasing the amount of Mana in my eyes over time. I could actually feel the skill coming this time long before I reached the threshold, due to how slowly I was building the Mana up. I just needed to exceed the threshold; I didn’t speed up, though, still nervous.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Vision.  
  
I opened the skill description.

* * *

Vision (Level 1) – Infuses Mana into the eyes to enhance visual prowess.  
Type – Toggle.  
Cast Time – Instant.  
Target – Self.  
Cost – 6.25(25) Mana per second.

  * Each level Increases the ability to see detail at greater ranges.
  * Each level increases the ability to see in low light.
  * Each level increases the user's reflex rating.
  * Increases how far the user can see by 1m (+1 per level.)



* * *

I stared at it, annoyed, it was kind of what I had been _envisioning,_ heh _,_ but worse.  
  
The Reflex rating wasn’t even listed on the stats page, so another hidden stat that I couldn’t track. The increased range and _detail at range_ sounded pretty useful while being able to eventually see in the dark would be cool. I wondered what kind of effect the hidden reflex rating would provide; I suppose if I suddenly started seeing things in slow motion or something, I could consider it a success.  
  
The cost was about in line with what I expected as well, the combination of Iron Hide, Energy Sense, and Vision would drop me down to nineteen mana recovery per second which wasn’t too bad, but it would probably annoy me for a while.  
  
I spent the next thirty minutes squinting around in the dark, trying to make out anything past ten meters and failing. I blinked when two people just appeared on the edge of my sensory range, one was weak and probably a civilian, the other was definitely a ninja, a ninja with Chunin level chakra, was this the leader of the assholes who attacked us?  
  
This time I was going to land at least one hit goddammit.  
  
“Karenbana, wake your shapely ass up!” I demanded loudly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 10  
> Health Points - 780/780  
> Mana Points - 1682/1682  
> Vitality 78 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 82 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 107 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 37 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 24 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 145 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 5  
> Health Recovery Rate – 1.5 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 25.75 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 31.75 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 22.5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 21.5 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 62  
> Perception Rating - 32  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $7,068.  
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1)  
> Energy Sense – (2.5)  
> Vision – (2.5)


	12. Dreaming of Jounin

We crept through the forest like a ninja.  
  
Well, I tried to at least, but I was making a lot more noise then Karenbana was happy with, she was also pretty upset that I’d woken her up to go chase after a random ninja that hadn’t even come near us.  
  
“Look, if it’s the leader of those four guys that ganked us earlier,” I argued quietly, “We can beat him up and then turn the guy in back to the capital.”  
  
“Why?” Karenbana said quietly, “Trying to get an in with the Daimyo? Defeat the ninja, attacking them and earn their trust?”  
  
I shrugged, but she had pretty much nailed it.  
  
“You’ve got me all figured out,” I admitted.  
  
I was almost sure she was smirking in the dark.  
  
“How strong is this ninja? Chunin?” Karenbana asked softly as we started approaching them.  
  
I nodded.  
  
We stopped at the tree line and peeked out onto the road, just in time for some woman to smash a rock over the back of Hinata Hyuuga’s head. I stared in disbelief as the ninja actually got knocked out.  
  
What the fuck?  
  
I stepped out of the tree line, and Karenbana hissed in surprise.  
  
“Oi,” I said suspiciously, “How did you do that?”  
  
I couldn’t even land a fucking _hit_ on some Genin, and this random lady was taking out _named characters_ with a _rock_ ; this was some bullshit. The woman turned around, alarmed, and pointed the rock at me aggressively. I dodged to the side in case she threw it or something, but she just moved to point it at me again. I checked above her head for a second to see her name.  
  
I observed them both while I had a moment.

* * *

Name: Hinata Hyuga  
Title: Princess of the Hyuga  
Gender: Female  
Age: 13  
Level: 117  
Next Level: 45.55%  
Health Points - 980/1000  
Chakra Points - 1500/1500  
Vitality 100  
Strength 80  
Speed 120  
Perception 105  
Intelligence 90  
Chakra 150  
Status Effects: Unconscious.  
Emotions: Hope. Determination. Worry.  
History: Hinata was born in the Land of Fire. She is a member of the Hyuga clan’s main branch and is a ninja of Konohagakure. She tries her best but feels like she is never good enough. She is a member of Team Ten.

* * *

Hinata looked pretty typical for a Genin, I think. I wasn’t exactly a master of comparing strength, however.  
  
I was beginning to think that there was something _strange_ about the stats that ninja had. I had one-hundred and seven Speed, and Hinata had one-hundred and twenty, but there was a _vast_ gap in my ability even to _track_ these genin rank ninjas, let alone even consider fighting them.  
  
It had been a long time since I had last observed Sakura, but I’m reasonably sure _her_ stats had sucked. I think my Speed _now_ was actually higher than hers was _then_ , but I’m also sure that Sakura would have kicked both of those Genin’s asses at the same time. I absolutely _couldn’t_ move at the same Speed she had been back on that beach. There had to be some hidden boost going on that observe wasn’t listing.  
  
I had actually observed all four of the guys that had attacked us, and I had several of them beat in a couple of areas, again, mainly Speed, but I couldn’t keep up with their pace _at all_. It's part of the reason I had tried for a reflex skill in the first place. My best guess for what was going on here was that the stats that showed up with Observe were just their base stats _before_ chakra enhancement got involved.  
  
This meant that Chakra was _complete_ bullshit because it seemingly multiplied there stats in a way that I couldn’t even _see._  
  
They must gain some massive overall boost from whatever the chakra reinforcement ‘skill’ would be for them. I _distinctly_ remember Hinata fighting head to head with Neji for like five uninterrupted minutes in the chunin exam before he beat her. There was _no way_ in hell I was even _close_ to approaching Neji in Speed, not if he could dominate Lee in hand to hand.  
  
Besides, Lee had _two-hundred_ Speed while wearing his weights. It really made _no_ fucking sense at all.

* * *

Name: Haruna  
Title: Princess of the Land of Vegetables  
Gender: Female  
Age: 24  
Level: 15  
Next Level: 5.55%  
Health Points - 200/200  
Chakra Points - 1/1  
Vitality 20  
Strength 10  
Speed 15  
Perception 20  
Intelligence 70  
Chakra 1  
Status Effects: Stressed.  
Emotions: Despair. Fear. Guilt.  
History: Haruna is the daughter of the Daimyo who rules over the Land of Vegetables, she was taken as a political hostage as a child in a foreign country, she was treated well physically but emotionally torment by those around her. Haruna seeks to take her place as the rightful Daimyo of the Land of Vegetables, and ensure the country survives. She is currently disguised as a merchant.

* * *

“No,” Haruna said, terrified.  
  
Wait a minute, a princess in disguise, taken from her country when she was young. Wasn’t that the plot to that snow movie? They were just repeating this shit all over the place now.  
  
“I said, _how_ did you do that,” I repeated, “Not _did_ you do it.”  
  
Haruna took a terrified step backward as I approached the unconscious ninja on the ground before Karenbana appeared next to me in a Burst of Speed.  
  
“It’s a Konoha ninja!” I said happily, “Remember those?”  
  
Karenbana gave me an annoyed look.  
  
“I’m going to wake her up, make sure rock lady doesn’t run away,” I said easily. “Or somehow defeat us both with her magical ninja slaying rock.”  
  
Karenbana stalked over to the terrified woman and took her by the shoulder. I cast Status Removal on Hinata, and she stirred almost immediately, I guess it wasn’t a very strong hit.  
  
“Hey!” I chirped.  
  
Hinata slowly pushed herself to her feet before taking several steps backward to get everybody in sight; she looked extraordinarily tense.  
  
“You’re one of those Konoha ninjas, like Naruto and Lee?” I smiled.  
  
Hinata blinked at the name drop before nodding carefully.  
  
“Yes,” Hinata said quietly, “Please let Haruna-san go.”  
  
“Sure,” I said easily and waved my arm vaguely in their direction.  
  
Karenbana pushed her towards Hinata uncaringly, and Haruna stumbled over to stand behind the tiny girl.  
  
“You look awfully comfortable with her at your back,” I asked bemused. “Considering she just hit you in the back of the head with a rock.”  
  
Haruna flinched.  
  
“It was a stressful situation. I think I understand why she did it,” Hinata said quietly. “How do you know Naruto-kun and Lee-kun?”  
  
“I met them on a mission about, uh,” I floundered for a moment.  
  
“Three months ago,” Karenbana said, amused.  
  
“Three months ago!” I said cheerfully, before glancing away. “Actually, I think Naruto just stepped into my range.”  
  
I titled my head as the massive signature that could only be Naruto appeared at the edge of the mountain Karenbana, and I had been using for shelter, I pointed out the direction before continuing.  
  
“He’s got two people with him-” I stopped.  
  
There was a Jounin level Chakra signature chasing the three of them up the mountain, and it wasn’t Kakashi.  
  
“Uh, Karenbana?” I asked weakly, “How do you feel about fighting a Jounin?”  
  
“Byakugan,” Hinata said immediately. “ _Naruto-kun!_ ”  
  
Hinata looked between us and where Naruto was apparently fighting the Jounin.  
  
“Come on then,” I said, resigned, “Let’s go dogpile the Jounin.”  
  
I turned and started running towards the fighting. Karenbana immediately fell in step beside me, while the other two moved closer together and then started after us, Hinata must have been carrying Haruna.  
  
“Naruto, was the orange one?” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
“Please don’t kill my friend, you shitty bodyguard,” I sighed, “or I’ll fire your ass.”  
  
Karenbana smirked.  
  
There was weird chakra stuff going on in my Energy Sense, there was a floating cloud of Chakra zooming around in the air, and there were tiny condensed orbs of Chakra scattered around the Jounin. Some kind of technique obviously, but I didn’t know what it was from here.  
  
“The Jounin is using some kind of chakra technique; it's flying around chasing the others?” I tried to explain, “He also has something set up around him, a defense maybe? Lots of little orbs of Chakra; seems notable.”  
  
“I’ll stealth and poison the Jounin,” Karenbana said quietly, “and then hit him with a genjutsu, shoot him in the face if you see the chance.”  
  
I nodded easily, between saving Naruto, or killing some random Jounin. I would pick Naruto every time. We ended up climbing straight up the side of the mountain. Using our respective techniques to stick to the stone, and in a fraction of the time, it would have taken us to run around to the actual path we were on top of it.  
  
Karenbana vanished suddenly from beside me, but I could feel her slowly moving towards the Jounin. That was the invisibility technique that she had used to hide back in Moon, way back when. Some other ninja had the same technique, but I couldn’t remember who.  
  
I think Kakashi fought him once? Or was it Jiraiya?  
  
I took in the area as quickly as I could. Naruto, _Choji,_ and a ninja with black hair called Yurinojo were all fighting the Jounin.  
  
What the hell was this strange ass team composition? Naruto, Choji, and Hinata? That's one of each of the three main teams, where the hell was their Jounin? I’d never seen the dark-haired ninja before, and he was only about as strong as Karenbana was, at least Chakra wise, so it wasn’t him.  
  
There was a large mass of water floating around in the air, with tiny fish in it. There was also what looked like orbs of water floating around the guy protectively. What the hell kind of nonsense was this? It was like a budget version of Kisame Hoshigaki, with tiny fishes instead of sharks.  
  
Oh, there _was_ a shark.  
  
Karenbana arrived behind the guy and tossed a kunai at him before leaping away, her invisibility still intact. The guy immediately had a shield of water in between him and the explosion, but the airborne poison would have still carried to him easily. The Jounin spun around and searched the area but failed to locate her before spotted me with my finger pointed at him. His water shield was still up, but the Line Spear went through it before going through his shoulder and out of his back, causing the Jounin to stumble backward in alarm.  
  
I fucking missed.  
  
I shot again immediately, but the guy had already started moving with untraceable speed, and I couldn’t adjust my aim in time. Then he moved to put the three ninjas in between him and us, so I couldn’t shoot again or risk hitting them.  
  
A massive amount of water was being brought forth from the ground now, dripping upwards out of the cracks in the stone, pulled from the dirt far below us. The guy's face was wrought with tension as he dragged all of the water into a single massive orb that continued to grow above his head.  
  
Which was when Karenbana appeared behind him and stabbed him in the neck with her kunai.  
  
In the guy's defense, he immediately reacted, spinning and backhanding Karenbana with obscene speed, launching her back off the mountain into the trees, all the while his water orb fell around him to puddle at his feet. The Jounin stumbled forward before falling to one knee and gurgled something hateful. He bled out in less than a minute.  
  
It seemed to take a long, _long_ time.  
  
Your level has increased by 5!

* * *

Hinata arrived with Haruna a minute later, and none of us had really moved by then we were all kind of in a fugue at the man's gruesome death. Naruto was staring at the Jounin quietly, and Choji looked vaguely ill.  
  
Yurinojo was better off, and immediately started towards Haruna when he spotted her, calling out her name on the way. I could feel Karenbana slowly making her way back up the mountain, taking a long way around so she would come up where I was still standing.  
  
“Hey, Naruto,” I said belatedly.  
  
Naruto made a surprised noise, and turned around, having been facing the Jounin the entire fight he had yet to see me and to busy trying to free Choji from the water technique to notice my own contribution to the battle.  
  
“Sora!” Naruto shouted, “What are you doing here?!”  
  
I scratched my cheek for a moment in thought.  
  
“I’m just passing through the Land of Vegetables, and I got attacked by some ninja, I was trying to hunt down their boss and ended up here I guess,” I said honestly.  
  
Naruto looked amazed, at least until Karenbana stepped over the edge behind me.  
  
“You’re that ninja that tried to kill Sakura!” Naruto cried, “What are _you_ doing here?”  
  
I’m honestly surprised he recognized her without the wig. Her shortish brown hair had finally grown to hang around her ears, she looked like an entirely different person, although the large pink eyes were rather memorable. The massive bruise that was already growing on her cheek and her swelling face made it even more impressive that he remembered.  
  
“Karenbana is my bodyguard,” I said dryly, “I hired her after you guys killed her teammates.”  
  
Naruto flinched at the reminder, apparently not a fan of killing people in general. Karenbana huffed quietly beside me, _also_ annoyed at the reminder.  
  
“So was that the ninja responsible for setting everything on fire?” I wondered.  
  
Another signature just appeared at the edge of my range, Jounin-level again. It wasn’t headed directly towards us, though. It was moving carefully like it was checking for something. I immediately dumped all of my new stat points into Speed again.  
  
“Incoming, Jounin again, more chakra then the other guy,” I shouted.  
  
I pointed out the direction.  
  
“Another one?!” Naruto said in alarm.  
  
“Fuck,” Karenbana said quietly. “Fix me.”  
  
I immediately placed my hand on her shoulder and started healing her. The Konoha ninja formed up around Haruna and stared at where I was still slowly tracking the guy's path across the forest with my other hand.  
  
“Karenbana, you got a plan?” I said simply.  
  
“Same plan as before, make lots of distractions,” Karenbana said simply, before vanishing. “If the Jounin stands still for longer than a second shoot them.”  
  
The guy must have found a trail because he started following it straight towards the mountain.  
  
“You heard her Konoha dudes,” I said cheerfully, “I don’t know what you two can do, but Naruto, you should definitely make a bunch of clones.”  
  
The Konoha ninja didn’t say anything in reply, and the Jounin suddenly crested the mountain ahead of us, he slowed to a stop as he saw us.  
  
“Hey asshole,” I said loudly, “We killed your friend.”  
  
I pointed to the guy, and the Jounin looked over at the body before turning to look at the empty space to his right, exactly where Karenbana was standing.  
  
I followed Karenbana’s instructions and shot him the second he looked away, but because of the movement, the Line Spear only hit him in the crook of his left elbow, and then he was moving. I lost track of him almost immediately, even with my upgraded Speed and reflexes he seemed even faster than the first Jounin. The guy abruptly appeared right on top of Karenbana with a _massive_ chunk of stone somehow stuck to his feet.  
  
Karenbana desperately jumped out of the way, but she still got clipped by the boulder, tearing most of her right shoulder and arm to shreds with the force. I swallowed at the bloody arm that dangled loosely from her shoulder. The Jounin, whose name tag said ‘Jiga’ landed with a crash beside her and I shot at him again, making sure I kept to the left side of his body, and as far away from hitting Karenbana as I could. It took Jiga in the side of his left thigh, but he didn’t even slow down.  
  
Hundreds of Naruto’s suddenly burst into existence across the mountainous area and immediately started rushing the guy screaming at the top of his lungs. Yurinojo, the other ninja with Naruto, quickly dashed off and circled the clones to try a get an angle on Jiga.  
  
Karenbana spent about ten desperate seconds fending Jiga off in melee with only a single useable arm at her disposal before the clones finally reached them. Jiga ripped the metal thing off his back a lashed out in an invisible slash that removed three rings of clones from existence in an instant. Jiga kept the momentum of the chain-weapon going in a large circle to keep the hordes of clones away from him, and they died in droves as they approached without fear.  
  
Karenbana retreated sluggishly towards me before stumbling down to her knees, panting desperately.  
  
I immediately reached out to dump half of my Mana into a Heal that spiked her health back up and watched Karenbana’s bloody mess of what used to be an arm slowly pull itself back into a proper shape.  
  
The wound was the _worst_ thing I had seen, even worse than watching the other guy choke to death on his own blood. I could even see bits of _white_ that could be nothing other than fucking bone, and despite it all; my power still dragged it all back together entirely in a matter of moments.  
  
I stared at Karenbana quietly, feeling my heart thundering in my chest. She had almost _died_ because I wanted to play the hero. We needed to kill this fucking guy _immediately_ before he actually managed to kill all of us.  
  
I observed the Jounin.

* * *

Name: Jiga  
Title: Janin  
Gender: Male  
Age: 32  
Level: 228  
Next Level: 76.32%  
Health Points - 1863/2600  
Chakra Points - 2400/3000  
Vitality 260  
Strength 200  
Speed 250  
Perception 100  
Intelligence 90  
Chakra 300  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Anger, Hatred, Fury.  
History: Jiga is one of the three brothers that share the title Janin. They are from a distant nation and are all-powerful Jounin. Jiga is a master of the Kusarigama and is one of very few ninjas capable of using magnetic techniques.

* * *

I skipped over everything not relevant to the current fight and immediately picked out the word magnetic.  
  
“Karenbana,” I said quietly, “He is using a magnetic technique of some kind to track the metal your carrying, lose it all, re-stealth and try to get him into the air where he can’t maneuver.”  
  
Karenbana stared up at me intently for a long moment before ripping her headband off, dumping all of her pouches and then vanishing again.  
  
Choji and Hinata had been hanging back near Haruno while the fighting was taking place. Naruto was just doing his best to swarm Jiga with as many clones as it took to slow the titan down. Yurinojo had been only this side of useless after the Kursarigama came out, he couldn’t approach at all.  
  
I could feel Karenbana strafing around to the far side where the clones were thinnest.  
  
Jiga was tearing through everything with ease. The clones couldn’t get within melee range because of the blistering Speed of his Kusarigama. Even when they managed to duck, he would just use his technique to manipulate the chain in the air to take them out on the next attack. I tracked the guy as best I could through the clones, but still couldn’t get a clear shot of him.  
  
Karenbana, still invisible, paused just outside the range of the flashing weapon, waited a long moment before flashing forward under the chain, and then smashed a kick up into Jiga’s chin that sent him up into the air above the clones with a cry of pain. I immediately took six shots on his flight path but only two hits. One of the hits did nothing, barely clipping his wrist, but the second one went right through his center mass.  
  
Jiga landed heavily and clamped his hand on his chest before immediately hopping backward, to retreat from the horde of clones that were chasing him down. Karenbana went wide around the clones, trying to come in from the side. I took six more shots while I had a line of sight, trying to predict where he would move next, and landed a _single_ lucky one in his right ankle that sent him stumbling to the ground.  
  
Naruto’s Shadow Clone army overtook him in an instant, and then Jiga was dead.  
  
Your level has increased by 5!  
  
The clones vanished after almost another minute of stabbing the guy. He clearly wasn’t taking any chances with this one, not after what he saw what happened to my bodyguard. Karenbana finally reappeared near the body after almost a minute of silent vigil, but he didn’t miraculously get up.  
  
I wonder if I could get her to help me kill Hidan, but I doubted she would want much to do with me after what I had just dragged her into. Besides, I would be _long_ out of money to pay her by the time I got to Takigakure.  
  
“Karenbana,” I said hesitantly.  
  
Karenbana still looked pretty keyed up from all of the adrenaline rushing through her, and her eyes were rapidly taking in the area as if another one would suddenly appear from the trees.  
  
“ _Please_ tell me that’s the last fucking Jounin I have to fight today,” Karenbana said darkly.  
  
I considered pretending there was a third Jounin for all of half a second before I decided I had better not push my luck.  
  
“None that I can feel,” I said quietly.

* * *

Naruto ended up bringing us back to their camp, which wasn’t that far out away from the area of the battle, but far enough away that it had been out of my sensory range. They had a couple of beaten up looking tents set up that was absolutely riddled with holes. Had they been attacked here by the first guy? I dropped down at the campfire as soon as we arrived, claiming my spot for the night.  
  
“Let me get this straight,” I said evenly, “There _is_ a god damned _third_ Jounin?”  
  
Haruna and her bodyguard, Yurinojo, had been discussing the identity of the other two. Haruna seemed to have heard of them before; they were pretty famous supposedly, which was weird because I hadn’t even heard of them. I don’t remember these guys from the series at all or even any of the movies.  
  
Was this more filler stuff I’d missed or just wholly new?  
  
“Yes,” Haruna said gravely, “The Janin, Ruiga, Jiga, and Renga.”  
  
Janin. What a dumb name.  
  
“Which was which?” I asked curiously, more for Karenbana’s sake than my own.  
  
I already knew that we had killed Ruiga, the water dude, and Jiga the magnet guy, I saw both of their names easily enough.  
  
“Ruiga was the first one, Jiga was the one with the kusarigama.” Yurinojo said quietly, “The three brothers assassinated the Daimyo and took over the Land of the Vegetables.”  
  
“So Renga is sitting in the Daimyo’s house playing king of the castle or what?” I asked, frowning.  
  
“Most likely,” Yurinojo said calmly. “I would like to thank you again for your assistance. We likely would have perished if you hadn’t arrived when you did.”  
  
I waved it off like I had done the first time he had said it. I didn’t care about thanks I cared about making sure Naruto didn’t die and then getting the fuck out of this country. I noted that we were all pretty low in morale. I would need to fix that.  
  
I took a deep breath and blew it out sharply.  
  
“Don’t worry about it, buddy.” I said evenly, “Karenbana needed the exercise; she was getting fat.”  
  
“Excuse me?” Karenbana said incredulously.  
  
“Moving on to more important things,” I said cheerfully, “What’s your plan, Naruto?”  
  
Naruto looked up from where he had been staring sullenly into the fire.  
  
“My plan?” Naruto said quietly.  
  
It looks like he needed a more significant boost.  
  
“Let me set the scene for you,” I said cheerfully, “Three naughty ninjas take over a country and kill _her_ dad.”  
  
I pointed at Haruna’s face, and she stared at me stoically. There was a ruffle of disgruntled noises at the rude comment, but I ignored them all.  
  
“They burn down people's _houses_ , they burn down the people's _farms,_ those are the things that keep all of the civilians from starving to death? You know about those, right?” I said, amused, “ _Then_ two of those naughty ninjas decide they want to take a crack at _them_.”  
  
I pointed to Haruna again and then Yurinojo, and Naruto stared at me with wide eyes.  
  
“Luckily for the Land of Vegetables ‘Team Naruto and Friends’ saves the day with a _glorious_ display of jolly cooperation and even manages to kill two-thirds of the evil men who brought pain and suffering to an otherwise peaceful country.” I smiled at him, “So, are you going to leave the problem _two-thirds_ solved, or are you going to go out there and help those poor defenseless people like the god damned hero you are?”  
  
Karenbana was staring at me like I was a walking train wreck, but Naruto looked pretty fired up.  
  
“ _Yeah_.” Naruto smiled, “I’ve got a plan.”

* * *

Karenbana and I walked straight in the front gates of the capital. Its what we get for letting Naruto plan the attack, I suppose. We were still wearing the clothes we had bought in Sakai, plain beige cotton shirts and trousers, and a matching hooded traveling cloak. We just looked like ordinary travelers.  
  
The gate guards at the capital didn’t even look at us as we entered, they looked sullen and uncaring, I guess suddenly having your city taken over by some jackass ninja was enough to ruin anyone’s week.  
  
The last Janin, Renga, was supposedly up in the massive stone and wood structure that made up the Daimyo’s residence. It looked like an old ‘Japanese Country’ castle more than anything, at least to me.  
  
We headed into town and found the first place that was serving hot food, I picked out a table in the corner and sent Karenbana off with the money to buy us both something to eat at the counter, she returned a couple of minutes later with orders taken care of. All that was left was to wait for the food and then for the signal.  
  
It got awkward pretty quickly, what with Karenbana staring at me quietly.  
  
I did my best to ignore her for a long as possible, but eventually, she leaned forward to make it exceedingly obvious that she was waiting for _something_. Karenbana had at least been patient enough to wait until _after_ we were away from the others before trying to get her answer, so I suppose she deserved some kind of credit, at least.  
  
It was probably too much to hope for that she would just let it go.  
  
“Just ask already,” I sighed.  
  
“You had no idea who the Janin were; you didn’t know who either of those two Jounin were individually either,” Karenbana said immediately. “You watched the fight for less than a minute before you somehow figured out he had a rare bloodline limit. Then you figured out he was using some kind of metal sensory technique to find me when he might have just _heard_ me!”  
  
I sighed, but she kept ongoing.  
  
“You have assassination techniques that are capable of taking down unaware Jounin. You know where legendary weapons are when nobody else does. You _say_ you don’t have Chakra, but you seem to get _faster_ in small bursts every couple of months for _no_ apparent reason.”  
  
I leaned back in my chair and watched her silently.  
  
“Explain it to me, Sora,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
It was the first time she had called me something other than, ‘Boss,’ or ‘idiot,’ or with those strange words at the end of everybody’s name that they all expected each other to use that I couldn’t care less about.  
  
“You called me by my name!” I said cheerfully, “Is it love _,_ Karenbana!?”  
  
Karenbana stared at me evenly, refusing to be derailed.  
  
“Fine.” I sighed in annoyance, “This is one of my precious secrets you brute. I will be expecting a secret of equal value in return, got it?”  
  
Karenbana didn’t even hesitate before nodding. I stared at her for a long moment suspiciously; she had agreed pretty fast. Karenbana had taken a mortal injury because I made her fight someone outside of all of our leagues, I supposed I owed her something.  
  
“I can look at someone and see a brief outline of who they are, where they are from, how strong they are in specific areas, and if there is anything _particularly_ notable about them,” I said slowly, trying to give her the idea without revealing the stupid interface. “Jiga was physically stronger than Kakashi, and Ishidate as well apparently, at least without taking Chakra enhancement or individual battle strategy into consideration. I’m pretty sure Kakashi would have wrecked all of our shit if we had fought him.”  
  
Karenbana just watched me intently.  
  
“The information I got from his outline said that he used ‘Magnetic Techniques,’” I continued, “You were invisible, and he looked directly at you. You’re _dead_ silent when you run as far as I can tell, and even _Ruiga_ couldn’t tell you were right next to him, I made the leap that he was tracking you via metal.”  
  
I said the last bit in a rush as our food was brought to the table, and we thanked the old lady. Karenbana waited until she had left before turning back to look at me.  
  
“That’s such bullshit.” Karenbana said suspiciously, “I’ve never heard of any kind of technique that just gives someone detailed knowledge of random people like that.”  
  
“It’s the truth,” I said honestly.  
  
“What does it say about _me_?” Karenbana said hesitantly.  
  
“Former member of the Uemon Clan, wandering ninja mercenaries, no allegiance to a hidden village, recruited forcibly at a young age, the last remaining member alive.” I summarised, there was new stuff there as well, but that’s what it had originally said.  
  
“I told you most of that,” Karenbana said immediately.  
  
“I kind of led you into telling it to me, but I already knew all of that before,” I admitted.  
  
Karenbana narrowed her eyes at me.  
  
“What else does it say?” Karenbana demanded.  
  
“High intelligence, remarkably high speed for your rank, small chakra pool, decent overall health,” I rattled off before smirking, “she also gives _fantastic-”_  
  
I saw her eyes widen.  
  
 _“_ Shut up!” Karenbana said quickly, cheeks red. “It _doesn’t_ say that.”  
  
I just grinned.  
  
“It doesn’t _,_ ” Karenbana repeated firmly.  
  
I made no move to confirm or deny.  
  
“Moving on,” I said cheerfully, “You owe _me_ a secret now, a _juicy_ one.”  
  
Karenbana took a deep breath to regain her composure before suddenly looking towards the door for a moment. I heard the sound of distant yelling a moment later. Karenbana glanced back at me for a moment before vanishing with a grin.  
  
“Goddammit,” I said, annoyed. “Scammed me again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 20  
> Health Points - 780/780  
> Mana Points - 1682/1682  
> Vitality 78 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 82 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 187 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 37 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 24 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 145 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 1.5 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 25.75 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 31.75 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 22.5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 21.5 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 62  
> Perception Rating - 32  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $7,068.  
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1)  
> Energy Sense – (2.5)  
> Vision – (2.5)


	13. Dreaming of EXP

The Konoha Shinobi had started their assault.  
  
I stood up and left our half-eaten food behind before heading towards the door. We didn’t know much about this ninja other than he was a Jounin. The other two brothers had extraordinary techniques, though, so it stood to reason that this guy either had something just as strange going on.  
  
Obviously, something to do with fire if he was the guy starting all the fires.  
  
So the plan that Naruto had come up with was pretty simple, but that was fine because simple plans usually worked, complicated ones often fucked up somewhere along the way. Naruto, Choji, Hinata would be assaulting the front gates and making a lot of noise. They also had Haruna with them who was being guarded by Yurinojo, because she had wanted to be there when we took Renga down.  
  
Crazy lady.  
  
They would be drawing out Renga, and Karenbana would be sneaking around to take out the other Genin that was supposedly working with the guy, more of the same that had attacked Karenbana and me already. I could feel about twelve ninjas around that had less chakra then Hinata.  
  
Could Karenbana beat twelve genins?  
  
If they worked together, it would be difficult; supposedly three was enough to take down a ‘Jounin’ in the anime, what a load of bullshit that was. I’d seen _hundreds_ of Naruto clones get killed by _one_ Jounin just last night, and Naruto was far above these guys.  
  
Karenbana had her invisibility trick as well; it would be completely one-sided.  
  
As far as anyone should know, I was just a random civilian wandering around so I would make my way to somewhere where I could get an angle at the Jounin guy and then snipe him. When it enviable failed, or I missed, I was going to run to a new location and try again while the others distracted him.  
  
I headed out onto the street, tracking the Jounin’s chakra to make sure I keep at least a dozen buildings in between us at all times. The enemy Genin was all over the place already. Karenbana had even managed to take one of them down, already judging by how his signature just disappeared.  
  
Renga was somehow a great deal higher than even the buildings were standing now, and when I stared up into the air, I almost immediately noticed him in the distance, he was casually walking across the sky like it was nothing, on some kind of invisible chakra platform. What the hell, that was some _Bleach_ nonsense right there? Why hadn’t I _seen_ these three in the show? I moved closer to the building to stay out of his sight, making sure to move slowly and not draw his attention. Each step he took, something shined briefly under his feet, an invisible circular platform of some kind.  
  
I observed him while I had the chance.

* * *

Name: Renga  
Title: Janin  
Gender: Male  
Age: 33  
Level: 237  
Next Level: 39.37%  
Health Points - 2070/2070  
Chakra Points - 4160/4160  
Vitality 207  
Strength 203  
Speed 200  
Perception 107  
Intelligence 112  
Chakra 416  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Suspicion, Anger.  
History: Renga is one of the three brothers that share the title Janin. They are from a distant nation and are all powerful, Jounin. Renga has assumed the role of Daimyo within the Land of the Vegetables after he killed the previous Daimyo. Renga is a master of the katana and uses a rare form of Ice Release.

* * *

Ice release? I guess I was wrong about him being the guy lighting the fires.  
  
So what was he doing now exactly? Making platforms with thin sheets of clear ice? I remembered Haku being able to make _mirrors_ that floated effortlessly; I guess this was something similar? He was out of the range for Line Spear at the moment, so I would need to make my way closer.  
  
I could feel more than twenty Naruto clones running around. I could also hear them because they were shouting and making a large amount of noise. Renga was just walking right over the top of them fearlessly, heading for where the three Konoha were protecting Haruna near the gates.  
  
I started walking faster.  
  
I was going to _assume_ this guy had some kind of ranged ice attack, like the needles that Haku had; it seems likely that he was a long-range fighter considering he was just staying up there, which was a bad matchup for us. I could certainly _try_ and gank him, but he might just retreat higher.  
  
I stared in disbelief as the guy actually came _closer_ to the ground, apparently to _talk_ to them first. It gave me ample time to get into position if nothing else.  
  
Abruptly he sent some kind of chakra attack towards the Konoha ninja that I could _feel_ but not _see_ , it moved quickly, and it was shaped like a thick disc, precisely like the platforms he was standing on. The discs smashed into the ground with a strangely high amount of force, shattering the hard-packed dirt, and leaving craters behind.  
  
The guy was also just standing calmly on his platform with his arms crossed and giving them the Gaara treatment while watching the Genin desperately trying to avoid his invisible assault. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I took my time lining him up and shot him in the back.  
  
It honestly wasn’t an awfully hard shot to land with him standing _perfectly_ still with nothing in the way.  
  
A second later, he fell off his platform like his strings had been cut.  
  
I checked the Observe window for Status Effects and found that he was partially paralyzed because I had managed to hit him in the spine. He fell out of sight, and I started heading towards where I could still feel his chakra.  
  
I gave up on _that_ idea immediately because I could feel one of the Genin heading towards my position. They must have seen my attack. Five seconds later, ‘Yoko,’ according to the name tag, was staring down at me from the roof. She was wearing the same black bandana and face mask combo the others had been wearing.  
  
“Hey,” I said reasonably, “Let’s not be hasty-”  
  
I had to dive out of the way as she came down at me with a kick that cracked the ground, I stumbled backward before lashing out with a hook that missed as she ducked below it. I kept on attacking, having learned my lesson from the last fight that if I let them attack me, I would get my ass kicked.  
  
I had to keep the pressure on.  
  
Yoko blocked, deflected, and dodged every single thing I threw her way seemingly without any issues, _but she was retreating,_ which had to mean that I was kind of winning! _This_ is what all my training had been for, this moment right here when I was _finally_ able to kick a ninjas ass!  
  
“Fear me, for I am strong!” I shouted gleefully.  
  
Yoko hopped backward to get some space and then immediately started throwing shuriken at me.  
  
I covered my face desperately with my hands and tried to jump backward out of the alleyway, but she just adjusted her aim and hit me multiple times. At least five of the dozens she had thrown struck me, a couple were glancing hits, but many of them remained stuck in my body.  
  
“Fuck!” I cried painfully. “Fuck _off,_ you cheater!”  
  
Iron Hide had taken a great deal of force out of the projectiles, but they had still gone through, and it hurt far more than shooting myself in the foot had. I could have used Line Spear, but I didn’t _want_ to kill every single person I fought, I really needed to make a non-lethal attack. I didn’t pull the shuriken out because I was sure it would hurt a lot more than leaving them in would, and I was a total wuss when it came to inflicting pain upon myself.  
  
I took off down the street, and I could feel her move up onto the rooftops to follow me.  
  
Yoko continued to pelt me with throwing weapons without mercy; I did my best to cover the back of my head with my hands and kept on casting Heal whenever my health got low. How the _hell_ did I get her to come back down _here_ and fight me where I could actually win?  
  
“Stop throwing shit at me!” I cried in pain, “I swear to god. I’ll come up there and kick your ass!”  
  
Yoko didn’t seem to take my threat seriously because she just continued to chase me, I headed directly towards where I could feel Karenbana fighting three of the Genin. Yoko must have finally run out of shuriken because she stopped throwing shit but kept on chasing me.  
  
“Karenbana!” I shouted as I came around the corner. “How do I get her to come down and fight me!”  
  
Karenbana had one of the Genin by the throat and was standing on the chest of another one; the third was on the ground unconscious, she stared at me with wide eyes, it was probably the twenty-odd metal stars sticking out of me, or all of the blood, who knows. Yoko remained on the roof, taking in the scene for a second before immediately going after Karenbana to save her comrades.  
  
“Hey!” I said in disbelief, “Fight _me,_ dammit!”  
  
This fucking hurt goddammit, and I wasn’t going to get any exp out of this stupid fight if Karenbana did all the work. Karenbana spun around and threw the guy in her hand at Yoko, who ducked under the body before stabbing at Karenbana’s throat with a knife-hand strike. Karenbana just moved out of the way and smashed her knee into Yoko’s chest, dropping her without fanfare.  
  
Your level has increased by 1.  
  
“Karenbana!” I said outraged. “I wanted to fight her dammit.”  
  
It was going to take forever to get to a decent level at this rate; meanwhile, people were running around at level two hundred for fuck's sake.  
  
As soon as the fight was over, Karenbana immediately moved towards me, and I took a step back from her in alarm as she reached out to grab one of the shurikens in my shoulder.  
  
“Stop moving!” Karenbana hissed.  
  
Fuck no, she was going to _pull it out_. The idea physically sickened me.  
  
“Let’s just leave it in!” I said urgently. “It’s fine where it is!”  
  
I stumbled back away from her, and she hemmed me up against the wall of a building before grabbing me by the shoulder to keep me still.  
  
“ _It’s fine like this_ , doesn’t hurt at all honest!” I lied desperately.  
  
Karenbana yanked the one stuck in my chest out, and it hurt just as must as I thought it would.  
  
“Karen-!” I snarled, “ _Stop!_ ”  
  
I tried to push her arm off my shoulder, but her stupid ninja strength was far out of my ability to overwhelm.  
  
“Karenbana!” I said furiously, “Fucking _stop!_ ”  
  
Karenbana just systematically yanked them out one after another, it was the most painful thing I had ever felt, even worse than getting hit with them in the first place, and I was left panting after she had removed them all.  
  
“Fix yourself,” Karenbana demanded.  
  
I was so angry that I tried to punch her in the face, but she just pulled her head out of the way and trapped my arm against her side. I struggled against her for a moment, but she just shoved me back against the wall again. I stared down at her darkly for a long moment before I finally managed to calm myself down enough to use Heal.  
  
“That should be all of the Genin,” Karenbana said quietly, “Twelve total, how are the others doing?”  
  
“Renga’s down,” I said furiously, “Naruto and the others are standing around him.”  
  
“Come on then,” Karenbana said evenly, “Let’s get this over with.”  
  
I pushed past her angrily and stomped off towards the main gate.

* * *

When we made it back to the group, we found Renga lying on his back with his hands and fingers tied up with wire, a growing red stain slowly spreading through the white bandages that were wrapped around the man's torso. Naruto had already dismissed his clones, and Hinata had been watching us approach with her Byakugan, while Haruna was standing behind them. Choji was eating a bag of chips nervously.  
  
“Sora-san.” Hinata said quietly, “Are you well?”  
  
Naruto spun around to spot us, and his eyes went wide.  
  
“You’re _covered_ in blood!” Naruto cried hysterically, “We need to get you to a hospital!”  
  
His horrified face was enough to draw me out of my dark mood for a moment, but before I could say anything, Renga started coughing. I glanced down at the guy again; his face was a mess of blood on one side; it looked like he had either landed on it or hit something else on the way down.  
  
Judging by the amount of blood seeping into the dirt, and his rapidly dropping hp he wasn’t going to last more than a half an hour at most, I’d fix him up enough, so he didn’t die after everyone was back to full strength. Renga was staring around vaguely, not really focusing on anything; it was either from the blood loss or a result of the head injury I wasn’t sure.  
  
I turned away as his expression twisted painfully.  
  
“I’m fine,” I said simply, “How are you guys doing? Any injuries?”  
  
“Fine!?” Naruto cried.  
  
“Um,” Hinata said quietly.  
  
I gave her a look over, she had a tear in her thick jacket at her right hip, and when she turned around, I could see the blood had stained the surrounding area. Haruna started arguing quietly with Yurinojo, but I ignored them, before patting the short girl on the head and dumping enough Mana into it to fill her HP back up to full. Haruna’s argument started getting louder, and I glanced over at them briefly before turning to Naruto.  
  
“You alright?” I asked easily.  
  
“I didn’t even get hit, Hinata-chan pushed me out of the way,” Naruto said embarrassedly.  
  
I smirked at him.  
  
“You’ll have to make it up to her then,” I said seriously, “Take her out on a date when you finish up here.”  
  
Hinata made a muffled noise while Naruto seemingly gave my suggestion some serious thought, before glancing over at the short girl.  
  
“We can go get ramen before I leave with pervy-sage!” Naruto said happily.  
  
Hinata looked elated, but the comment had entirely derailed my thoughts. That’s right, he hadn’t even _left_ with Jiraiya yet, its already been three months, hadn’t it? What the hell was he even doing _here_? Wasn’t the entire point of leaving Konoha with Jiraiya was so he wouldn’t get ganked by Akatsuki? Why did they send him out without at _least_ a Jounin?  
  
I’d completely forgotten after we had got involved in their mission with all the people being killed everywhere I’d been pretty distracted.  
  
“Pervy-sage?” I asked with feigned curiosity, “are you going somewhere, Naruto?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m going on a training trip!” Naruto said excitedly, “I’m going to get that old pervert to teach me all of his moves!”  
  
I glanced over at Hinata and raised my eyebrow expectantly.  
  
“Jiraiya of the Sannin,” Hinata said politely.  
  
“Nice.” I said honestly, “I _just_ remembered; you wanted me to drop by Konoha sometime, when will you be back?”  
  
“A year at least,” Naruto said easily, “Probably more.”  
  
That was strange, only a year? He left for two in the series, or was it three? I studied him for a second; he was a little bit taller than when I had last seen him, two or three inches at least. Perhaps because he was going on all of these non-main story missions, this was how it worked out? Would Akatsuki still arrive at the same time, or had that changed as well? Fuck.  
  
“Hey, are you a chunin yet?” I asked curiously.  
  
“Nah.” Naruto complained, “I’ll have to wait till I get back to take the exams again.”  
  
I nodded thoughtfully, still ignoring the growing argument behind us.  
  
“Where are the next few exams at, I might come to watch you compete. If they allow spectators, I mean,” I chirped.  
  
“Awesome! Uh, the last one was Iwa? Like a month ago?” Naruto said unsurely.  
  
Naruto glanced over at Hinata for support, and she nodded.  
  
“Konoha was before that one as well, so,” Naruto scrunched up his face in thought. “Cloud is next?”  
  
“Cloud and then Mist,” Hinata said quietly, “Suna would have been next, but they recently lost their Kazekage, so there have been some talks about doing a joint exam between Konoha and Suna.”  
  
Interesting, six months between exams, five months until Cloud, eleven months until Mist, fifteen months until Suna was supposed to host. Fifteen months until the most likely time for the Suna-Konoha exams, which meant that I only had fifteen months until I had to try and kill Hidan and Kakazu.  
  
That didn’t seem nearly long enough.  
  
Your level has increased by 3.  
  
I stared at the notification for a long moment before slowly turning around. Haruna had Yurinojo’s sword in her hand and had stabbed Renga in the chest with it. Karenbana was just watching the other woman curiously while Yurinojo looked ashamed that he had let her do it.  
  
I couldn’t believe it, Haruna had _stolen_ most of my EXP, she didn’t even fight! How did this keep on happening!?  
  
Haruna had a bright smile on her face, an expression that I had never seen her wear before, and it transformed her face into a beautiful visage.  
  
“It’s finally over,” Haruna said triumphantly.  
  
I wanted to punch her in the nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 24  
> Health Points - 780/780  
> Mana Points - 1682/1682  
> Vitality 78 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 82 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 187 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 37 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 24 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 145 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 15  
> Health Recovery Rate – 1.5 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 25.75 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 31.75 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 22.5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 21.5 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 62  
> Perception Rating - 32  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $7,068.  
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1)  
> Energy Sense – (2.5)  
> Vision – (2.5)


	14. Dreaming of Keys

Karenbana and I stayed in the capital for three days.  
  
Naruto, Hinata, and Choji had all gone to retrieve the merchants they had originally supposed to have been escorting here before their mission had been revealed to be a scam.  
  
Haruna had immediately taken her place as the Daimyo, while Yurinojo stayed close by her side. The villagers here seemed to be much happier with the Janin gone, and the daughter of their sorely missed Daimyo returned.  
  
I asked around town for information on the supposed ferry that left from the Land of Vegetables to the Land of Neck once every two months only to find that it had left only days before. Which meant we had two options, the first was to stay in the capital for just under two months waiting for the ferry to return.  
  
The second was to pass through the Land of the Keys and along the edge of the Land of Demons.  
  
I hadn’t wanted to go through the Land of Demons at all, because I knew that there was a bunch of evil ninjas, a sinister shadow tentacle being, and an immortal statue army there. I was almost certain Naruto hadn’t killed that thing until after Shippuden, which meant it was still there.  
  
I very vaguely remembered something about the Land of Keys as well, it was an anime arc about a hidden village filled with spies. Kakashi, and some ninja lady that banged once or something, and he let her escape? I’m reasonably sure that had already happened, though, because Sasuke had been in that arc, and they were all still kids at the time.  
  
I think we would have to risk going past the spy village and along the end of the Land of Demons because there was no way in hell I was waiting for another two months for my awesome sword. I wanted my god damned Dragonblade dammit.  
  
Naruto and his team eventually returned with the merchants, and with there mission finally completed, they left the capital with some kind of fancy looking scroll to deliver from the newest Daimyo of the Land of Vegetables to the Hokage of the Leaf.  
  
A trade deal? An alliance? No idea.  
  
I made sure to see them off, and then we left for the Land of Keys.

* * *

“Are you really going to just keep on ignoring me?” Karenbana said, annoyed.  
  
I was absolutely going to keep on ignoring her, I was still incredibly pissed off for the shuriken ordeal she had put me through, but what really got to me was that she wouldn’t even apologize for it! We had three separate arguments about it back at the capital, and the next time the conversation had turned back to it, I had decided just to ignore her until I finally managed to cool down, but she was making it exceedingly difficult, though.  
  
“Sora?” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
The capital was actually pretty close to the border of the Land of Keys already, so it was actually only a two-day trip, and there was a significant change in the landscape to signify the difference, with the unending forestry abruptly ending. Instead, there were vast, flat plains of tall grass with massive boulders scattered for miles.  
  
“Sora,” Karenbana complained.  
  
I had decided on sticking as close to the coastline as I could get because if I had to walk through the Land of the Demons, it was going to be along with the god damned beach. There was practically no sand as well, which was amazing because I didn’t even want to think about the stuff.  
  
“Sora.” Karenbana huffed. “Stop ignoring me!”  
  
It looked like a lake from here, but in actuality, the water in this area flowed all the way from the ocean, through a long channel between the Land of Fantasy and the Land of Savana, both incredibly silly names, before opening up into this massive body of water.  
  
It was honestly some of the most beautiful scenery I could ever remember seeing in both worlds; if this were back on my world, it would have been an incredibly popular place.  
  
“I’m not sorry.” Karenbana murmured.  
  
I narrowed my eyes and thought about just how _lovely_ the scenery was; I could see the landmass of the Land of Neck curving out into the lake from here, still weeks of walking before we reached it, but there was not an obstruction in sight, just beautiful sparkling water.  
  
The coast of the Land of Demons was also in view far beyond it, and it looked suspiciously peaceful. Which is _precisely_ what they wanted us to think, all the while secretly hiding a demonic shadow beast in there somewhere that was ready to jump out and eat our asses.  
  
“They had to come out so you could fix yourself,” Karenbana said quietly. “I thought you were going to bleed to death.”  
  
After the Land of Neck, we would be cutting straight through the Land of Woods. I didn’t know anything about that place at all other than it was a name on the map, so I planned on getting through as quickly as possible.  
  
Most forest locations in this damn place seemed to have some weird stuff going on, the forest of death had giant animals and leeches, _absolutely disgusting._ In contrast, the Land of Vegetables had fucking Genin running around in the woods and even a couple of Jounin as well. I didn’t want anything to do with whatever was in the Land of Woods; with my luck, I would run into a lost branch of the god damned Senju clan or something.  
  
“Fine!” Karenbana snarled, “I didn’t want to hurt you, but I’m not sorry that I did it!”  
  
I spun towards her immediately.  
  
“Apologize properly, dammit!” I demanded.  
  
Karenbana studied my face for a long moment.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
I tackled her to the ground.  
  
“Hey!” Karenbana said, alarmed.  
  
I started trying to get her into a headlock, and I almost managed it before she got her hand under my arm.  
  
“I was so bored!” I said dismayed.  
  
I tangled my legs on her own so she couldn’t sit up and fought hard to keep her trapped.  
  
“There are only so many times I can think about the water!” I cried “or the grass!”  
  
Karenbana grunted as she forced my arm up and broke the hold with a minor effort. I immediately tried to pin her again, but she kneed me mercilessly in the stomach before flipping me over. I wheezed as all the air left me, while still struggling to keep her legs tangled.  
  
I grabbed her by the hair, now just long enough to get a good hold. I tried to pull her head backward, futilely trying to stop her from taking the superior position.  
  
“Ow, you fuck!” Karenbana hissed. “Let go!”  
  
“I even started making up conspiracy theories.” I strained out. “About. The. Fucking. Senju.”  
  
Karenbana twisted my wrist and broke my hold on her hair suddenly, before jabbing me in the gut hard enough that I accidentally let her leg go with another wheezing breath, and she twisted on top of me into a full mount.  
  
I desperately reached for her hair with my other hand, but she pinned both my hands above my head.  
  
“Fuck.” I wheezed out. “I almost got you-that time.”  
  
Karenbana just grinned.

* * *

The two weeks we spent on the coast of the Land of the Demons were ironically the most peaceful part of the entire journey.  
  
I had been so worried about this place because it was the first movie I actually remembered watching the demon thing had stuck with me, but absolutely nothing had happened. That priest chick hadn’t arrived to demand our help against the demon, the gang of weird-ass ninja didn’t appear to kick our asses, and we didn’t get dragged into anything weird.  
  
So far, we had passed through two countries without anything weird happening, and it made me incredibly suspicious. It did make it easy to get a decent amount of training in, and I felt like I was finally making some headway.  
  
Karenbana still kicked the shit out of me with ease, but I felt like I could have beaten Yoko solidly now, maybe? It was embarrassing that I hadn’t thought to climb up the wall of the building to get at her, but at the time, I was panicking, in pain, and filled with adrenaline. Karenbana had spent several days just teaching me how to fight on places other than the ground, on the sides of trees, upside down on branches, on top of the water at the beach.  
  
I had gotten my ass kicked everywhere, honestly.  
  
It must have been a ninja thing, but whatever instinct they had to take the fighting up on top of things wasn’t really in me, I much preferred staying on the ground, but at least I had the option now.  
  
So here we were, another week worth of traveling into the Land of Neck, a place that Karenbana had actually been to, although she said she had come by one of the many ferry’s that stopped in the Land of Bean Jam.  
  
These names were _terrible_ , Bean Jam? Honestly.  
  
I had some vague knowledge of this place as well, who could forget that giant chameleon that was pretending to be a castle and had tried to eat Naruto that one time. I couldn’t remember exactly when it had happened though it was definitely while Naruto was a kid, I think it had been after Sasuke had defected. Naruto had to have solved the situation already if he was going back to go on his training trip with Jiraiya when he got back to Konoha.  
  
Karenbana took us past where she remembered the worn-down old castle was supposed to be located right at the heart of the destroyed capital. It was going to be hilarious when we got there, and the castle was just gone.  
  
I was going to give her so much shit.  
  
I saw it long before it was within my sensory range, but even without being able to sense it, I knew that something had gone wrong. Instead of an empty foundation, there was a massive worn-down looking castle sitting exactly where Karenbana said it was.  
  
“That is not supposed to be here,” I said dryly.  
  
Karenbana looked at me strangely.  
  
“I told you it was here ages ago,” Karenbana said bemused. “When we were talking about that time I went to Bean-”  
  
“Do not sully my ears with that silly name.” I cut her off urgently, “I remember the discussion, but I had prior knowledge that it had been taken care of already, and it's clearly not.”  
  
Karenbana tilted her head for a moment.  
  
“What do you mean taken care of?” Karenbana demanded. “And why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”  
  
I nodded thoughtfully at the questions.  
  
“Moving on,” I said cheerfully, “That isn’t actually a castle.”  
  
“It's obviously a castle,” Karenbana said strangely.  
  
“It’s obviously a giant shapeshifting chameleon summon animal,” I said snootily.  
  
“You’re just fucking with me again,” Karenbana said immediately.  
  
“Nope.” I said evenly, “There’s a summon scroll hidden in one of the rooms inside, but the summon will try to kill anyone who goes inside unless their name is on the scroll.”  
  
Karenbana turned back to look at the castle with suspicion; she glanced back at me several times.  
  
“You are definitely messing with me,” Karenbana said incredulously. “That castle has been here for decades!”  
  
“If I remember correctly, the summon will vanish if you get rid of the scroll.” I muttered, “Destroying it worked in the anime, but I wonder what would happen if I put it in my inventory?”  
  
This could be an opportunity to save me some Moon Dollars.  
  
“If that cuts the connection it might de-summon the thing, I could then take the scroll back out, and the summon would be gone, but we would still have the scroll.” I theorized quietly. “If it doesn’t cut the connection, I can just destroy the scroll with Line Spear.”  
  
“What’s your ‘inventory?’” Karenbana said intently.  
  
“What?” I winced.  
  
Karenbana just stared at me.  
  
“Fuck.” I muttered quietly, “She’s on to me, now I’m going to have to fire her.”  
  
“I can still hear you,” Karenbana said, annoyed, “I’m standing right here.”  
  
“She was a hottie too, a real piece of eye candy, what a shame.” I muttered, “I suppose I’ll just have to buy a newer, prettier model, a blonde? I could call her Karenbana-na.”  
  
“If you don’t tell me,” Karenbana said darkly, “I am going to kick the shit out of you.”  
  
“Worst bodyguard ever, honestly.” I muttered, “To think I’m paying her enough for a full team, and this is what I get for my generosity? Terrible, I want a refund.”  
  
“Fine,” Karenbana said resignedly.  
  
I turned to run, but only made it a couple of meters before she caught me.  
  
Fuck.

* * *

“This is bullshit,” I complained, with my face smushed into the grass. “You still own me a secret, and you’re already trying to scam me out of another one.”  
  
Karenbana huffed from her position, sitting on my back.  
  
“Is everything a trade with you?” Karenbana murmured.  
  
“Yes, because everything in life is a trade,” I said, annoyed, “That way I know exactly what each of us is getting out of this.”  
  
Karenbana moved slightly on my back, putting her weight back towards my waist, but her hand remained fisted tightly in my hair, and my arm remained painfully twisted up behind my back.  
  
“Why not ask for something useful in exchange then?” Karenbana said quietly, “Like a reduction in my payment or something.”  
  
“I don’t give a shit about the money; I wanted to know more about you, idiot.” I muttered, “I do consider you my friend at this point, you know.”  
  
Karenbana didn’t say anything for a long moment.  
  
“If you see everything as a trade, what are you trying to gain from calling me your friend?” Karenbana said quietly. “What's the trade here? Why would I even be your friend if it's like that?”  
  
Karenbana sounded pretty subdued, but I wasn’t trying to be an asshole. This is just how I was.  
  
“Karenbana, friendships are always transactional; whether people admit to it or not, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get anything of worth out of them.” I said simply, “I get to hang out with somebody I enjoy being around; I have somebody that I actually care about to talk to, somebody I can confide in, someone I can share things with, someone who gives me affection, it gives me access to someone I can trust to _want_ to save me when I'm in danger, and not just because they are getting _paid_ to do it.”  
  
I had never been good at knowing where the line was, and when I did find it, I couldn’t help but push through.  
  
“In return, they get my affection; they get somebody to talk to. They get somebody to confide in, somebody who has their back, somebody who is willing to do whatever they can to keep them alive. I’ll put my trust in them right up until they break it, but no further than that,” I said honestly.  
  
That how I saw most things, everything had an element of give or take to it, most people certainly seemed to prefer being on the take side of things, and tried to minimize giving much in return.  
  
A lot of people were like that, actually. I just wanted to receive exactly what I put in, and if being upfront about it hurt someone's feelings, then that was too bad.  
  
I didn’t care about material things, at least not more than the functionality they provided when I needed them. I didn’t care about my clothing or the katana I had stolen from Renga’s corpse, the pack on my back, or any of the supplies stashed away in my inventory.  
  
None of that had any real value to me.  
  
I didn’t care about some nebulous concept like ‘the world ending,’ I cared about the fact that I was part of that world now, that I had now made connections with people that lived in it and those people might die if I didn’t do anything.  
  
I cared about people, but more specifically, I cared about the people that I _chose_ to care about.  
  
I was fond of a lot of people from this world; I’d watched their struggles, their triumphs, their failures, and their redemptions. Now they were suddenly real, and I didn’t want them to die. I wanted to learn more about them, more than had been shown from a panel in a book or a frame in a video.  
  
So what if I’d developed a one-sided para-social relationship with all of these characters, they were real people now, real people with real lives, real feelings, real desires, and real dreams.  
  
I was fond of Kakeru because he didn’t seem to mind my abrasiveness. I was fond of Yuna because I had spent several weeks close to her, and at one point, she was the only person I could spend time with safely. Kakashi because he was witty, enduring, admirable and could give as good as he got in a battle of words. Naruto because he was an honest to pure god soul who was going to save the world and make it a better place for everyone at the expense of his own life if need be. Lee, because he was the epitome of what hard work could achieve and had a work ethic that made me look like Shikamaru.  
  
“Karenbana, I’m fond of you because you didn’t kill me when you could have. You’ve saved my life, you’ve gone into dangerous situations for me-situations that you probably didn’t have particularly good chances of surviving,” I continued out loud, words still muffled by the grass. “We have spent a lot of time together these last months, we’ve laughed, argued, fought and for whatever reason, I’ve found it remarkably easy to put my trust in you; despite the fact that you’re only in this for the massive amount of money I’m paying you.”  
  
I blew out some of the grass that had managed to make its way into my mouth.  
  
“I told you before that I consider you a friend, but whether _you_ consider me a friend or not, well I suppose the result remains the same in the end,” I said quietly, “and I’ve always been good at pretending.”  
  
Karenbana was quiet for a long time before her tight grip on my hair became softer, and she brushed her fingers through it gently.  
  
“I told you I was born in the Land of Flowers,” Karenbana said quietly, “There were less than fifty people in our town, it didn’t even really have a name, and you wouldn’t be able to spot it on a map.”  
  
I listened quietly.  
  
“When the Uemon Clan came looking to recruit more members,” Karenbana continued, “I was one of three people they chose to take with them when they left.”  
  
I think I already knew where this was going.  
  
“They killed everyone else,” Karenbana said quietly, “Young, old, it didn’t matter.”  
  
Some people were just monsters; waking up in another world seemingly hadn’t changed that.  
  
I couldn’t remember my family’s names or even my very few friends, but I was reasonably sure they were still alive somewhere. I couldn’t imagine how I would have felt if they had all been killed in front of me, and then I’d been dragged against my will into fighting for the people who had done it.  
  
“Say, Sora?” Karenbana said quietly, “Did I ever tell you I had a sister?”  
  
Oh.  
  
“Was she one of the three they took with them?” I asked quietly.  
  
I already knew the answer.  
  
“No,” Karenbana said quietly. “She wasn’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 23  
> Health Points - 860/860  
> Mana Points - 2010/2010  
> Vitality 86 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 97 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 230 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 42 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 26 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 174 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 2.25 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 34.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 37.25 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 29.25 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 29.75 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 103  
> Perception Rating - 42  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $6,068.  
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)


	15. Dreaming of Castles

Karenbana didn’t speak much after that, even hours later when night had fallen, and we had set up a small campfire in the forest. We hadn’t set up a tent either, the sky was clear, and the temperature was still warm. I made sure we still had a line of sight on the castle just in case.  
  
It was almost midnight when I finally pulled my shit together and did what I should have hours ago.  
  
“Karenbana,” I smiled, “Sorry, I’m an asshole.”  
  
Karenbana snorted.  
  
“Idiot,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
“I’ll make it up to you,” I promised.  
  
I smirked in the dark.  
  
“I can see you waggling your eyebrows,” Karenbana said, amused. “Idiot.”  
  
Damn, her night vision was better than I thought, I couldn't see anything at all.  
  
“ _Tomorrow_ , we will be going into the belly of the beast, so to speak,” I grinned like a shark, “So I’ll finally be revealing the dreaded _secret_ of the inventory and its dark power.”  
  
Karenbana just sighed.  
  
“You want something in exchange again, don’t you?” Karenbana said dryly.  
  
“I’ll take another secret of yours or a favor.” I said easily, “You get to choose, but I won’t be revealing anything more until you hold up your end.”  
  
I held out my hand in front of me, and I assumed she was looking at it. I mentally opened my inventory, and a fish suddenly appear in my hand without warning, still flopping around in panic.  
  
“What the fuck?” Karenbana said, alarmed. “Where did that come from?”  
  
I started laughing.  
  
“Is there a storage scroll in your sleeve?” Karenbana demanded, grabbing me by the wrist.  
  
I placed the fish back into my inventory without a word and smirked at her again. Karenbana pulled my sleeve up to study my wrist in the dark.  
  
“Nothing,” Karenbana muttered, twisting my arm around. “How?”  
  
“I can store things inside a subspace.” I said confidently, “There doesn’t seem to be a limit to how _much_ I can store in it, but I have to at least be able to pick the item up physically for it to go inside.”  
  
Karenbana stared at me in the dark.  
  
“My plan is thus, we walk in the front doors of the fake castle, find the scroll and put it in my inventory.” I said easily, “That should cut its connection to the summon animal, which will dispel it, and then we will have exactly one Chameleon Summoning Contract, which is probably worth a _lot_.”  
  
I assumed she was impressed by how amazing I was, but if she thought _that_ was cool, she was going to love what I had figured out by accident the other day. I reached out with my still trapped arm and grabbed the front of her shirt before inventorying it silently.  
  
I grinned at her in the dark, unable to see anything.  
  
“Nice tits, _idiot_.” I snickered.  
  
“I’m going to beat the shit out of you now,” Karenbana said evenly.  
  
“You _dare_ challenge _me_?” I said bravely, “You could have at _least_ put a shirt on first.”  
  
Karenbana did indeed beat the shit out of me, but at least she wasn’t moping anymore.

* * *

We approached the fake-castle at daylight, and it lit up to my senses like a sun.  
  
This thing was gigantic, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a _creature_ this large before, it was kind of terrifying in a way. Lizards _were_ kind of cute, though, so I swallowed my fear and moved up to the front gate and felt around it more thoroughly with my Energy Sense.  
  
The inside of the castle was fucking _complicated_ , everything was made of the Lizard, and every inch of it had chakra coursing through it, the gaps where the rooms had been formed had _less_ chakra, but still far more then there should be in an empty room.  
  
Some of the rooms were also _moving_ , which was weird as hell.  
  
I could feel chakra twisted into complex shapes, doors, door handles, staircases, paintings, statues, and more, there was also a single bar of blue chakra that stood out starkly against the yellow of the summon beast.  
  
For whatever reason, the creature had left an open pathway to the scroll, which was strange because if you were laying a trap, you wouldn’t even give them a chance to catch the bait, well not if it were priceless anyway. It wasn’t even inside any of the moving rooms, it was literally down a staircase, down a hallway, first door on the left, it was almost like directions to a bathroom.  
  
I remembered in the source material it had been here for fifty years? I think? Summoned as a last-ditch effort of a spiteful summoner to kill anyone who wanted to possess the castle. The summon had been here for ages, and I was starting to think that it would have _wanted_ to get the hell out of here.  
  
I certainly would have, I _hated_ being alone for more than a little while, my mental state started rapidly deteriorating the longer I went without _someone_ to talk to. I couldn’t imagine how this creature must have felt after fifty long years. Didn’t summons all have families and shit? This poor thing probably just wanted to go home.  
  
Like Gamabunta, Gamakichi, and all the others. Manda, and the snake that _wasn’t_ Manda. There were heaps of them as well, this poor chameleon had been stuck out in the middle of fucking nowhere for fifty _actual_ years.  
  
Not fifty off-screen anime years, fifty _real years_.  
  
Away from its family, its friends, its world, just to carry out the last orders of some spiteful asshole who didn’t want the enemy to take his Land. We stood at the threshold of the castle.  
  
“Ready?” I said firmly.  
  
Karenbana looked a little afraid now that I was paying attention.  
  
“How are you _okay_ with this?” Karenbana said, strained. “I am going to get _eaten._ ”  
  
“I didn’t hear you complaining _last_ night,” I said cheekily and then sprinted into the castle.  
  
I headed for the staircase moving as quickly as I could, Karenbana still managed to catch me in a couple of seconds, cheeks bright red.  
  
I tore down the stairs, and the Summon finally started to move; either it had only just noticed us for the first time, or maybe it had been asleep. I felt the chakra inside the front gate start to seal itself shut, something was rising from the floor slowly to cover the exit.  
  
Well, that was terrifying.  
  
I caught something moving on the wall out of the corner of my eye as we came around the corner but ignored it, I could already see the door to the treasure. The moving rooms that were elsewhere in the ‘castle’ were going a hell of a lot faster compared to everything else that was moving around, either the Summon was _deliberately_ slowing this down to allow us to get to the scroll, or something else was going on.  
  
I _saw_ the ground at the door slowly start to rise, at less than half the rate of the front gate, and it was only knee height when I dove over the top of it and into the room. Karenbana was inside in an instant before she dragged me up off the floor and away from the slowly growing tendrils that were reaching for my legs.  
  
I stumbled over to the altar and snatched the scroll up.  
  
“Don’t worry, buddy!” I said cheerfully, “We’re going to send you home now, but we will probably call you back up in a little while, just for a quick chat cya!”  
  
I inventoried the scroll, and then without a single frame of transition, we were suddenly standing on the stone foundation that had sat beneath the castle. Massive plumes of white smoke surrounded us in thick roiling clouds that drifted off into the air before vanishing after several long moments.  
  
I turned to Karenbana, who looked equal parts terrified and amazed.  
  
I pulled the scroll back out of the inventory with a thought and tossed it at her head, Karenbana _was_ a ninja, so of course, she snatched it out of the air before it hit her in the face, but it was the thought that counted.  
  
“That’s two months pay, shitty bodyguard,” I said easily, “Don’t spend it all at once.”  
  
Karenbana just stared at me with wide eyes.  
  
“You should probably sign it straight away and then try to call him up,” I said thoughtfully, “I told him he had a few minutes and they can probably tell when someone signs it, I’m pretty sure they can do some weird reverse summoning thing to get back here, better to establish that relationship as quickly as possible, especially while he’s still grateful that we saved his leathery old ass.”  
  
Karenbana stared down at the scroll in her hand in disbelief and made no move to follow me when I left.  
  
I headed back towards the foundation staircase.  
  
I wonder how many people were going to freak out when they noticed the castle was suddenly missing? That would be _hilarious_ , there were a couple of small cities in the Land of the Neck, at least Karenbana had _said_ there was earlier, none of them were very near though, so the news would probably take a while to spread.  
  
Actually, it was probably better if we just left as soon as possible because if they _did_ notice it and were pissed off that an important landmark had suddenly been stolen, they might hire a ninja to come find out what had happened.  
  
I wanted _no part_ of that nonsense.  
  
The other thing that had been on my mind since I realized the castle was still here was that _everything_ did seem to exist here. Naruto was still going off on a training journey with Jiraiya, which was the main story content, Land of the Moon mission existed, which was movie content, and they actually _went_ there which implied they might go to _other_ movie locations.  
  
I don’t know where that Janin nonsense was from, but it _reeked_ of filler.  
  
Mount Koryū also existed, which was fucking _game_ content, and the fucking summoned animal castle existed, which was uh, was that filler?  
  
Only Naruto hadn’t done _this_ one, but he _had_ done the Land of the Moon, and what did that mean exactly? Movies were probably happening here, and Naruto was out here doing filler stuff when he should have been with Jiraiya doing _main-story_ stuff.  
  
Some of the events from different mediums _overlapped_ during the same periods, like how the Dragonblade game took place during the Hunt for Itachi mission, somehow. If _both_ of those things existed in this world, the Dragonblade and Itachi, but Naruto could only be present for _one_ of them  
  
What the fuck happened _then_? What if Naruto _didn’t_ stop that stone of Gelel crap? What if it happened later instead? Why didn’t I _ask_ him? I had only stumbled upon this by chance because I wanted a strong sword, and I had immediately remembered the game.  
  
The shadow demon asshole from Land of the Demons happened _right_ at the start of Shippuden, so what happened if Naruto went to save Gaara _instead_? Or would he go stop the massive immortal army, and _Gaara_ would die?  
  
What about that Blood Prison movie with Naruto and that white-haired ninja that could somehow revive people. When had that happened? What if Naruto ended up in prison while one of the other big things happened?  
  
Which events were going to be ignored? Were _these_ the things I was supposed to ‘Save the World’ from? The ones that he couldn’t be present for? How did I figure out _which_ ones?  
  
What about events that had _already happened_ before I had gotten here, the ones that _had_ overlapped? Did Team Seven go and save that snow-princess-actor chick from that movie? Or was she _still_ pretending to be an actress? Were they busy somewhere else when that was going on?  
  
Was she was just shit out of luck? _Why didn’t I ask when I had the chance_? I wasted so much _time_! I should have been thinking about this already!

I sat down next to the coals of our long-dead campfire and thought furiously.  
  
What about that sky ninja movie, that was during Shippuden, and Orochimaru was still alive at that point. Would Sasuke _actually_ go and get the immortality jutsu for Orochimaru as he did in the movie? Or would Sasuke just kill him as he did in the anime, because he was sick, and his arms didn’t work?  
  
Naruto would most likely be there for that one because those ninjas attacked Konoha, so Konoha shinobi would definitely respond to the aggression, but if Sasuke didn’t go for the technique and gank the sky dude, what would happen?  
  
Would Naruto just die there?  
  
What about that time travel puppet asshole, Naruto had also gone to _that_ thing, but it was in the same period that he was supposed to be training sage mode I think? Sometime after, Jiraiya had already died. I don’t know about all that time travel nonsense but if Naruto weren’t there to help _his_ own _dad_ then that puppet-guy would win in the past, Minato would either flee or die, and if he died Naruto wouldn’t be born so he couldn’t do any of the stuff he had already done? Or something?  
  
 _I don’t fucking know._  
  
“Sora,” Karenbana said quietly, from directly behind me.  
  
“I am having a mental breakdown right now, Karenbana,” I said honestly. “I’m afraid I’ll be unavailable for any consultations, please schedule in an appointment for yourself sometime later this week.”  
  
“What?” Karenbana said, confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 24  
> Health Points - 860/860  
> Mana Points - 2010/2010  
> Vitality 86 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 97 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 230 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 42 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 27 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 174 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 2.25 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 34.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 37.25 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 29.25 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 29.75 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 103  
> Perception Rating - 42  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $6,068.  
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)


	16. Dreaming of Dragonblade

The trip through the Land of the Woods was long but mostly uneventful.  
  
It took us about three and a half weeks to make it through the country entirely, and it was exactly what the name suggested trees and lots of them. There _was_ a scary moment when we were about a day’s walk from the border when I sensed four Jounin level chakra signatures right on the edge of my range to the east.  
  
We ran the rest of the way to the Land of Mountains, without a break. We had both had more than enough of fighting Jounin, thank you very much.  
  
The run wasn’t as exhausting as I imagined it might be, my stamina seemingly held out pretty well. Karenbana seemed to be completely fine, my running speed was seemingly a nice jog for her.  
  
The trees quickly thinned out, and after a couple of hours, the terrain began to become increasingly craggy. Stone, dark tightly packed dirt, and boulders seemingly dotted the landscape, broken up by the occasional dead tree. There were a lot of mountains, which wasn’t surprising given the name of the place.  
  
Mount Koryū sat as a paradoxical existence of death and endurance, it towered hundreds of meters into the air, and even from here, I could see a massive cavern carved into the face of it, halfway up. A darker shade of grey and black, on a grey and black backdrop.  
  
There was also an obvious gradient to the land, where the land started rich and fertile, trees growing strong and tall to the east, but the further west we traveled, the more dead the land became. Cracked earth, crumbled and dead trees, animal carcasses, and a complete lack of birds. I made sure to keep an eye on Karenbana’s chakra reserves to see when they started to dip, and as soon as they started to deplete, I turned around and headed back for a couple of hundred meters.  
  
I scuffed a deep mark into the ground and then sat down.  
  
“Karenbana, my dear, this is as far as you go,” I said cheerfully. “Any further, and your chakra will start falling again.”  
  
“I didn’t even notice it,” Karenbana said nervously. “It's fine here?”  
  
I nodded.  
  
“Although if you start to feel weak, I’d start running east as quickly as you can manage.” I said wryly, “Better to not risk it after all.”  
  
Karenbana sat down beside me and hugged her knees to her chest.  
  
“You really don’t have Chakra?” Karenbana said quietly. “You’re not going to go up there and die, right?”  
  
“Didn’t believe me, huh?” I said, amused, “I’m one-hundred percent sure I do not have chakra, I do however have another source of energy, I’m pretty sure it won’t affect me, but if it does I’ll notice immediately.”  
  
Karenbana didn’t say anything for a moment.  
  
“I thought you were lying about it,” Karenbana said honestly, “Sorry.”  
  
I just laughed, and we sat in silence for a long while.  
  
“What are you going to do now, Karenbana?” I asked cheerfully. “Are you going to retire somewhere? Startup a noodle shack? Get into gambling?”  
  
Karenbana didn’t reply.  
  
“Buy a fishing boat? Buy _two_ fishing boats? Make them fight to the death for your amusement?” I rattled off, “Sneak in and take the Chunin exams at one of the main villages for a laugh? Hunt down the tailed beasts, create a single massive super tailed beast, and try to take over the world?”  
  
I smiled faintly.  
  
“Nah, that last one was too much, wasn’t it?” I said easily, “I always go overboard with these things.”  
  
Karenbana still didn’t reply, so I nodded calmly and stood up.  
  
“It’s been fun, Karenbana,” I called over my shoulder, “I’ll come back past here on my way back, it would be cool if I got to hang out with you some more.”  
  
I tossed a wave over my shoulder.  
  
“But if you do decide on retiring, no hard feelings,” I let out a breath, “I’ll see you around.”  
  
Karenbana didn’t say anything, and I didn’t look back.

* * *

The walk towards Mount Koryū was a quiet one; eventually, she was outside of my sensor range, and I refused to turn around because I was afraid that if I did, I would see that she had already left.  
  
Better to not risk it.  
  
The mountain didn’t change much on the way; other than to slowly grow larger, the closer I came to it. It was dead silent, no birds, no insects, just the crunch of small stones underfoot.  
  
I began to make out a large round tunnel right at the bottom of the mountain that was previously hidden in the blend of black and grey stones. It was pretty much pitch black inside, and I was suddenly glad that I had managed to create the Vision skill.  
  
Stumbling around in that hell hole looked like it would be a terrible time.  
  
I abruptly sensed something right in the center mass, possibly where that large cavern was located, the one I had seen from a distance. A solid length of Chakra about as long as my arm, tapered to a point. Above and behind it were five orbs of Chakra that glowed like miniature suns.  
  
Green, red, orange, blue, yellow.  
  
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face, months of constant effort, crossing that _fucking_ desert, getting into fistfights with genin, being turned into a bloody pincushion, desperately trying to not be killed by Jounin, and everything else in between. I had set out to find this god damned blade, and I had _damn_ well done it, but _Fuck_ going into the scary tunnel.  
  
I walked straight up the side of the mountain.

* * *

The cavern was large and cut deep into the bulk of the mountains Stoney core, it took me almost fifteen minutes to carefully walk in far enough to spot some specks of bright color in the distance. There was an altar sitting in the middle of the cavern, a stone monolith, and I was sure that it was responsible for the Chakra draining effect because it was covered in sealing marks, marks that I had no chance of reading. Even when I Observed it, all I got was a bunch of scribble marks that might have meant something to a seal master, but nothing to me. Five thin gold rods stuck up from the altar and held the five brilliant orbs in the air, while two small curved golden arches held the blade above the altar.

The Dragonblade was cool as hell, it was almost as if someone had a hard-on for a kunai and scaled one up to the size of a small sword. It had two edges, three diamonds cut out of the middle of the blade, marked out with yellow trim, a ring where the orbs could be slotted, and a scaled green handle. There was a fancy orange knot of rope tassel hanging from the end of it.

It was like some kind of awesome Materia blade jacked straight out of a final fantasy game.

I observed the orbs.

* * *

Fire Orb (Legendary)  
Wind Orb (Legendary)  
Earth Orb (Legendary)  
Lightning Orb (Legendary)  
Water Orb (Legendary)

* * *

No description, strangely enough.

* * *

Dragonblade - The ancient blade of the Genryu.

  * Cuts through most things.
  * Capable of cutting through Chakra.
  * Each attack absorbs the targets Chakra.
  * Unbreakable.



* * *

That’s more like it.  
  
I reached out and plucked it off the altar without fanfare, before looking around suspiciously, but nothing happened. I reached out and inventoried the Fire Orb, but still, nothing happened. I inventoried the rest of the orbs, one after another.  
  
This was a lot easier than I expected it to be, honestly.  
  
I thought I would get chased by dragons, or the monsters from the games would be here, or the two dragon siblings would pop out and attack me. It was like all the difficulty was getting in here in the first place; the only defense the damn blade had was that nobody with Chakra could approach the mountain without dying.  
  
I suppose that was enough in a world where everybody had Chakra.  
  
I had completely bypassed it all because I didn’t use Chakra, magical bullshit at its finest. Anti-climactic sure, but I could deal with that, but if the sword hadn’t been here, I would have been devastated. So I had my fancy sword now, that I had no idea how to use, and I had about thirteen months left until I had to kill a pair of immortal assholes, what could go wrong?  
  
I took a few quick swipes with my new sword, and it felt _legendary._ Not really, it felt exactly how I would have expected something of its size to feel, but it was still pretty awesome.

* * *

Quest Completed.  
Acquire the Dragonblade.  
Reward  
Dragonblade

* * *

"Fuck you." I said sullenly, "I should have known."  
  
I stared down at the altar that was sucking all the Chakra out of the environment for miles in every direction before staring at the sword in my hand.  
  
I had a duty as _the_ single best sword fighting man that would ever walk the face of the planet to save this poor land from this dastardly altar.  
  
So I stabbed the altar with the blade, and it immediately exploded.  
  
I dumped most of my Mana into reinforcing Iron Hide and its probably the only thing that saved me, because I was sent skipping backward through the cavern like a pinball, shattering the stone with every impact until I abruptly found myself in the open air and tumbling through the sky.  
  
I dumped a quarter of my remaining Mana into a heal to get me back to full and then tried desperately to stop spinning. I didn’t really manage to slow down or correct my flight at all, I just kept on tumbling towards the ground uncontrollably.  
  
Despite the spinning, I did manage to notice the ground coming up towards me at an incredible rate, so I waited until the last moment before dumping the rest of my Mana into Iron Hide.  
  
I smashed into the ground beneath me and cratered it for several meters before I bounced up into the air and then smacked bodily onto the ground ten meters away.  
  
I felt my health dip down a quarter from the last impact and just laid on the ground staring up at the mountain. I dropped into Meditate immediately as the top half of the mountain, about level with where the altar had been suddenly shattered, before exploding again and sending tonnes of stone in every direction.  
  
That was the stupidest thing I had ever done since arriving here; All my Mana was gone, Iron Hide had cleaned me out entirely, I was heavily injured, and it fucking _hurt._  
  
I stayed flat on my back in agony and just watched as the stone rocketed away in every direction, overshooting my position by hundreds of meters, and somehow leaving me miraculous unharmed as it rained down onto the ground behind me in an unending thunderous roar of noise and vibration.  
  
Another second shockwave raced out of the mountain furiously before it hit me hard enough that I was flipped over twice more before smacking onto my back. The shockwave raced onwards for miles and launched all the debris another couple of meters away.  
  
I stayed on the ground simultaneously, Meditating and dumping all of my Mana into a continuous sequence of healing until everything stopped hurting, and the world finally stopped shaking.  
  
Then I stayed on the ground for even longer than that.  
  
I waited almost fifteen minutes before I finally managed to talk myself into getting up off the ground. I stared around at the rubble that was scattered everywhere, and at the hole where I had landed and swallowed before I spun on my heel started walking away from where the mountain used to be.  
  
I’m fairly sure this was going to attract the attention of every ninja, possibly even countries away. I had better not stick around for long, or I was sure I would end up regretting it.  
  
I belatedly stashed the Dragonblade in my inventory, no longer wanting to look at the thing that I had almost killed myself with.

* * *

Hours later, I felt Karenbana’s chakra signature, exactly where I had left her, and I felt something twist in my chest when it sunk in that she hadn’t left me here.

I was incredibly surprised that she was still there, even more so after the mountain had exploded. I would have thought _she_ would have assumed that I had died in the explosion.

I hadn’t been lying when I told her she was my friend, but I had honestly thought she would leave when she had the chance, and I wouldn’t have blamed her in the slightest. I had put her through a lot of shit in the last couple of months, and that ‘three Jounin named Janin’ nonsense was some of the worst of it.

If she had decided it was safer elsewhere, I would have understood, but Karenbana had _waited_ for me. I honestly didn’t know what to say to her to express how much that meant to me, so I fell back onto old habits instead.

“Karenbana,” I said flippantly. “I’m not paying you to sit around on your pretty ass all day, you must be the laziest bodyguard on the entire continent, we have work to do you know?”

I walked past her without further comment.

I felt her slowly turn to stare at me before she suddenly blurred towards me at obscene speed. I hid my smile when she tackled me to the ground from behind.

“What the _fuck_ was that?!” Karenbana demanded. “What did you even do!?”

I tried to wrestle my way free of her grip to no avail

“What kind of dumbass bodyguard tackles the client!” I cried outraged, “I want a _refund_!”

I shit you not; she fucking _hissed_ at me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 23  
> Health Points - 920/920  
> Mana Points - 2102/2102  
> Vitality 92 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 106 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 237 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 45 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 28 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 182 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 3 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 38.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 42 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 31.25 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 30.5 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 118  
> Perception Rating - 45  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $6,068.  
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)


	17. Dreaming of Goals

We headed north towards the border of The Land of Mountains and the Land of Iron, more because I didn't want to go back towards Suna than having any actual concrete goal in that area, it was a pretty long journey to Taki no matter which way we went, I just preferred snow to sand.  
  
The walking was dull, mostly because the landscape was so barren, but I noticed a distinct drop in temperature the closer to the border we got, and the entire time I kept coming back thinking of what I had to do.  
  
I was sure that I had forgotten more of the events that had happened before Shippuden, and I was desperately hoping that there wasn't another spin-off game of some sort that was going to destroy the world that I hadn't _ever_ gotten around to playing.  
  
Shadow demon guy, the Bloodline stealing guy, Zero Tails plus Sky Ninja.  
  
Those were all things that were coming up _later_ , and I was hoping something would jog my memory, and I would remember some of the others, but until then, I still only had a single goal.  
  
Killing Hidan and Kakuzu, and once again, my thoughts had come full circle.  
  
How the hell was I going to sell this to Karenbana? The Janin was something unplanned that we had just gotten caught up in, but I'd been _planning_ on fighting these two since I figured out where I was. I suppose I would have to give her another chance to bail out before then. I didn't want to fight them if I was being honest, so I wasn't going to try forcing anyone _else_ either.  
  
"Karenbana," I said slowly.  
  
"Sora?" Karenbana said curiously.  
  
"I have decided on my next goal," I said cheerfully. "Care to guess what It is?"  
  
Karenbana raised an eyebrow at me.  
  
"Is it another sword?" Karenbana said thoughtfully, "No, you said you had a list of people you wanted to get revenge on or something."  
  
Not quite what I had said, they hadn't done anything to me to warrant 'revenge.' It was more like a pre-emptive murder attempt, really. Should I pick up another sword? I knew where one was and had a decent idea on some others. I'd think more about it later.  
  
"Something like that," I said cheerfully, "There are two people I need to kill in about a year from now."  
  
Karenbana tilted her head.  
  
"Why do you need to kill them?" Karenbana asked curiously.  
  
I blinked; I thought for sure she would ask _who_ I was trying to kill first, huh. I suppose I should just tell her now and get it out of the way.  
  
"The world is going to end unless I kill a specific bunch of people," I said cheerfully, "Probably."  
  
Karenbana was quite for a long moment, and I absolutely knew, even without looking at her, that she was staring straight at the side of my head, but I just remained silent as her annoyance slowly rose at my complete lack of details.  
  
" _Why_ is the world going to end?" Karenbana said tightly, "How would you even _know_ something like that?"  
  
"Good questions," I said cheerfully while ignoring them both _completely_ ; that was another rabbit hole I wasn't going down right now. "The two people I intend to kill are kind of annoying to kill."  
  
Karenbana reached out to grab me by the shoulder, but I juked to the side, already expecting it. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice-  
  
 _Fuck you, she still got me_.  
  
Karenbana turned me around to face her and then crossed her arms across her chest, staring up at me dangerously.  
  
"There is a whole host of threats all over the place that could cause the world to end," I said honestly, "I'm probably going to have to kill at least some of them; listing them all would be totally annoying."  
  
Karenbana stared at me silently, and I sighed.  
  
"Fine," I complained, before ticking them off my fingers. "There's this shadow demon asshole with a gang of, five? Jounin level ninja, and an immortal army of thousands of moving statues that are trying to kill a future predicting princess in the Land of Demons, if I don't kill _him_ , he will conquer the entire world, probably."  
  
Karenbana narrowed her eyes at the information, no doubt annoyed that I hadn't told her about it when we had literally been crossing that exact country a month or so ago.  
  
"There's this tail-less tailed beast running around that eats anger or hatred or something," I said thoughtfully, "It is being used by this supposedly immortal asshole that controls a flying castle with this massive city-destroying laser, an army of ninja that can fly and he plans on killing everybody in the Land of Fire in revenge for getting his shit pushed in during one of the wars."  
  
Karenbana opened her mouth to say something, but I just flicked the third finger up.  
  
"There's this time-traveling asshole that can control a couple of thousand puppets at once with that Sunagakure puppet technique," I continued easily, "if he isn't killed in the next few years, he will probably end up going back in time and killing the Fourth Hokage before he becomes the Fourth Hokage and then who knows what the hell _that_ will do to the world."  
  
"Stop," Karenbana said, annoyed.  
  
" _Then_ there's this other asshole ninja that going to go around the world stealing all the cool Bloodline limits and then combining them to become the strongest ninja in the world," I kept on talking over the top of her. "I don't really know _what_ his plan was after that, but it probably involved taking over the world or some villainous nonsense."  
  
“Sora.” Karenbana said strained.  
  
"Oh!" I said cheerfully, "There's also this ninja prison somewhere that contains a box of bliss or something? Either way, once it's open, it releases an immortal flying demon asshole that will probably kill everybody."  
  
"The Blood Prison?" Karenbana said weakly.  
  
"How _could_ I forget Akatsuki, who wants to collect all the tailed beast to make a superweapon and then take over the world?" I said flippantly.  
  
"That was _true_?" Karenbana said quietly.  
  
"There then is an actual motherfucker on the _moon,_ and I shit you not," I said incredulously, " _Misheard_ what his ancestor said and decided the guy wanted him to steal hundreds of people's eyes before smashing the moon into the earth."  
  
"If you don't let me-" Karenbana said intently.  
  
" _Then_ there's a bunch of other guys from another dimension? Planet? Somewhere else, who want to steal all the chakra from this world, and one of them was already here like ages ago so-" I started.  
  
That was as far as I got before Karenbana punched me in the stomach, folding me over like a towel around her fist, and I fell to my knees, gasping for breath.  
  
"That was totally uncalled for," I wheezed. "you _shitty_ bodyguard."  
  
"Sora." Karenbana sighed, "How much of that is true?"  
  
"All of it," I gasped out, before trying to catch my breath. "I might have got some of their motivations mixed up or wrong, but the events are more or less true, there's way more than just those anyway."  
  
"You know all of this, like you know who people are when you look at them?" Karenbana said quietly. "How you knew where Shiromari was? And the Dragonblade?"  
  
"More or less," I managed.  
  
Karenbana just watched me quietly.  
  
"Some of these events might have already happened though, or happen at the same time as each other, or happen at _any_ of those times but in a really _weird_ way," I had mostly recovered now, "I knew where the Dragonblade _was_ kind of, but the events of that shitshow weren't supposed to happen for several years, and probably wouldn't have?"  
  
I don't see _how_ the ninjas could have realistically made all the sealing equipment they hand waved away in that game, and I'm pretty sure the mountain wasn't anywhere near where it had been in the game. I'm _really_ lucky that Kakeru had heard about the dragon story.  
  
"Who are the two people you need to kill in a year," Karenbana said intently, "How do they fit into this?"  
  
Oh right, I had attempted to tell her that earlier, but I'd been derailed.  
  
"Two members of Akatsuki," I said easily, "They are going to be attacking the green-haired chick."  
  
"Green-haired chick?" Karenbana said, confused.  
  
"I can't remember her name," I said honestly, "The Jinchuriki from Takigakure."  
  
I put together what I knew of the two immortal bastards in my mind.  
  
"The first guy is called Hidan," I said slowly. "He keeps on living even if you chop his head off, he's also got this giant red triple scythe thing, and if he manages to get any of your blood, he does this weird-ass technique that links you together so that any damage inflicted on him hits you as well. He's from uh, the hot springs place, what's their ninja village called?"  
  
"Land of Hot Springs?" Karenbana said quietly, "Yugakure?"  
  
"Sounds about right," I shrugged.  
  
"I haven't heard of him," Karenbana said honestly. "Is he a Jounin?"  
  
A _Jounin_? Oh, I hadn't told her how strong Akatsuki was.  
  
"All of Akatsuki members are S-rank missing-ninja," I added belatedly, "and they come in pairs."  
  
Karenbana stared at me with wide eyes.  
  
"The other members are uh, Konan, Pain, Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori, Deidara, Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi Uchiha, Tobi?" I listed off from memory, "Orochimaru used to be a member too, but he quit, another one of the seven sword guys was Itachi's partner at some point as well, but I think he might have died already? Kakuzu killed a bunch of his previous partners as well because he's got anger issues or something."  
  
"Itachi Uchiha? Sasori of the Red Sand? Orochimaru of the Sannin?" Karenbana hissed, "Are you _fucking_ kidding me, Sora?!"  
  
"Yeah, those guys are pretty scary," I said honestly. "I'm more scared of Kakuzu and Kisame, myself,"  
  
"Who the fuck is Kakuzu?" Karenbana demanded.  
  
I waved my hand vaguely.  
  
"He's this missing-nin from Takigakure, his body is made up of these black threads, he has a massive amount of chakra, five different hearts that come out of his back and run around independently of him can use practically every elemental ninjutsu, combines them into even stronger techniques as well," I rattled off all the notable things I remembered about the guy, "He lost a fight to the First Hokage back when they were young fellas, but managed to get away intact."  
  
"How is he still alive if he fought the First Hokage?" Karenbana said quietly, "That guy died a long time ago."  
  
"Kakuzu and Hidan are _both_ immortal," I clarified.  
  
Karenbana was looking even more angry by the second.  
  
"Kisame is one of the seven sword guys from Mist, he has this giant sentient chakra draining sword," I pretended to take a couple of slashes with a giant imaginary sword, "He supposedly has as much chakra as a tailed beast, he's a master of water ninjutsu, shark summons as well, I think?"  
  
Karenbana fell silent after that, and I let her have a moment to think about everything I told her.  
  
"The main reason I even brought it up," I said quietly after several minutes had passed. "I need to be near Taki to kill Kakuzu and Hidan, but I thought I should probably tell you about, you know."  
  
I waved my arm to represent the entire conversation we'd just had.  
  
"If you want to bail, now is probably the optimal time." I said honestly, "I'm going to be training non-stop on the way to waterfall."  
  
"There is absolutely _no way_ you can kill an S-rank," Karenbana said quietly. "Let alone two."  
  
I just shrugged, she was right that right now, I couldn't do it, but with more than a year of training before I had to fight them, _surely_ that would be enough time to grind myself up to where I needed to be.  
  
"We shouldn't have been able to kill three Jounin either, but with the power of love and friendship on our side, we conquered _that_ obstacle without much issue," I said easily.  
  
"I'm a fucking chunin," Karenbana said seriously, "and you can't even beat me."  
  
I snorted; she felt a lot closer to a Jounin these days, honestly.  
  
"That's because I was holding back to spare your _little_ feelings, haven't you figured that out yet?" I said cockily. "Idiot."  
  
Karenbana started towards me.  
  
Long story short, she easily kicked my ass, but I made her work for it, I hope.

* * *

We had purchased a map of the continent back at Sakai, and last night I spent several hours sketching out what seemed like the best route to get to waterfall from the Land of Iron.  
  
I had come up with a _cunning plan_ , a plan that I was sure I would regret about a week after it finally worked, but it was cunning none the less.  
  
Karenbana was proving difficult to foil, however.  
  
I had been trying to try to get her to summon Shiromari again, but she continued to tell me to fuck off, and that the last time she had done it, she had been left with practically zero chakra. I suppose that's why she had taken so long to come back to camp.  
  
It was a work in progress.  
  
The Land of Iron was our first stop, well technically, our first stop was a stone-carved bridge called Samurai Bridge, and it took me a couple of seconds before I realized that I had _seen it_ before, specifically the giant stone katana that was set on top.  
  
This was where Sasuke had fought Danzo after the Kage Summit.  
  
It allowed us safe passage over the river that ran through the chasm far below us, and up onto the mountainous terrain that would eventually lead us into the snow. We ended up climbing to a high point near the bridge to get a good look at the area, and the thing that stood out the most was the three incredibly strange mountains in the distance.  
  
I remembered _them_ from the source material as well, but the fact that I could see it from all the way here was crazy. It was several weeks to travel there _at least,_ and regardless of the amount of haze in the area, probably very distant snowfall, the three mountainous maws speared up through it all to tower over the landscape. You could see the gradient of the rocky and somewhat tree-dotted terrain slowly vanish entirely to snow-filled plains.  
  
We ended up camping here for the night.

* * *

Hours later, I had finally decided on the next technique I would be attempting to create.

The options were a Teleport skill and an energy defense; I kind of had an energy defense now, though, in the form of the Dragonblade. I could use it to steal the chakra out of attacks and dissipate them, hopefully. I'll probably still try and make one in the future anyway, but for now, I was going to work on what I was certain would be the most expensive and short-range teleport of all time, at least judging by every other skill I had made anyway.

This was another case where I had _lots_ of media to pull from as inspiration.

There was teleporting like Nightcrawler, or the teleporting from Jumper, all the different foot moves from Bleach, and a hundred other variations of teleporting; hell, there was even a bunch already in _this_ world.

I didn't want a position movement skill that moved me in a straight line to the destination as Shunshin did though, I needed one where I didn't need to worry about obstacles in between myself and the target. Bleach was out; I'm fairly sure they had to cross the physical distance in some way; it was like body flicker in that regard. Nightcrawler left behind smoke, which wasn't what I wanted, and Jumper had some weird-ass mechanics that I couldn't remember. I didn't want to have to throw a marker of some sort, like the flying thunder god technique, and I didn't want to stand around for five seconds while I got sucked into an eye technique like Obito.

What else was there? Instant transmission? Apparition? Teleport from Pokémon? Some of them had elements of what I wanted, but other things that made them sub-optimal. Instant transmission only worked with energy signatures, Apparition required spinning first and made a loud noise, and I don't know how Teleport from Pokémon worked.

I would just have to try to get what I wanted, through sheer force of will. I dropped into Meditate before slowly gathering as much Mana as possible and spreading it throughout my entire body. I kept at it until my entire body was filled, as evenly as I could manage.

What did I want?

I wanted to teleport, I wanted it to be instantaneous, I didn't want to cross the space in between, I wanted to be able to use it in combat. I continued slowly adding more Mana and condensing it, doing my best to keep it contained inside my body, and begun my mantra.

Teleport, Instant, Space, Combat, Teleport, Instant, Space, Combat.

I added more Mana as I generated it with Meditate until I was practically glowing in the dark with a pale, ethereal light. I was still slowly adding more Mana for what had to have been almost an hour before I could feel myself starting to lose control over it, and it was slowly wafting up past my skin into the air. I dug deep into my willpower and tried to clamp it down tightly and desired more than anything else to be somewhere else.

The Mana flooding in my body twisted violently, and the pattern was too much for me to understand it with a single attempt. My Mana dipped significantly, and my view of the mountains abruptly changed a tiny amount.

You have unlocked a new skill, Jaunt.

I let out the breath I had been holding and opened up the description.  


* * *

Jaunt (Level 1) – Uses Mana to instantly move the target into a different point in space without crossing the physical distance in between.  
Type – Cast.  
Cast Time – 29.5 (60) seconds.  
Target – Self, Other.  
Cost – 168.5(200) Mana.  
Range 0.25m (+0.25 per level.)  
Each additional passenger will incur the Mana cost.  
Repositioning is possible during Jaunt.

* * *

It was what I wanted kind of; I would never be able to get this high enough to teleport from country to country; the range scaling fucking _sucked._ Why did they start so god damn weak? Why couldn't I have a useful skill without having to train it for _months_ for it to be worth anything? I could _step_ further away, then this would take me, and that at least would cost me no Mana at all, and the cast time was massive! Once every thirty seconds!? I would need to _double_ my Casting Speed skill to get it to an instant cast.

Which was more important here? Increasing the range slowly by casting it whenever I could or just spamming other skills to grind Casting Speed up to the point where I could spam _Jaunt_ until I ran out of Mana?

I had a year to find out.

* * *

The Land of Iron was pretty fucking cold, all things considered.

Wearing two layers of our desert gear was almost enough for it to be comfortable, but we had both already agreed to stop by the Capital to buy some proper snow gear. The upside was that since I had revealed my inventory back in the Land of Neck, I was able to shunt all of out crap inside it so we could pretty much travel with just our clothes.

Camping in the snow was an experience I wasn't sure I hated or loved.

There were no trees to tie the tent too, and the ground was covered in a fairly deep layer of snow, so the pegs didn't actually stay in the ground very well. Before it got too late in the day, we made sure to locate some form of natural cover, at least from one side, a rock formation spearing out of the ground, or a frozen tree.

Karenbana had mentioned how annoying it would be before we had left Samurai Bridge, so I had been stuffing every single boulder I could lift into my inventory to use as something to tie a tent rope too. It only partially worked, because the boulders ended up sinking slowly over a few hours and were a pain in the ass to dig back out afterward.

The upside was that it was _super cold_ even in the tent, so we ended up figuring out several interesting ways to stay warm.

* * *

The capital city of the Land of Iron was an exceptionally large place.

I don't know exactly what this place's population was, but it had to be in the hundred thousand range. There were _so many_ houses, so many _buildings,_ large walled compounds dotted the city, topped with wooden guards to deflect the falling snow away from the stone. It didn't really work because most of them were buried under several layers of it.

There were two or three buildings that rose above all of the others, planted on top of massive stone foundations, not unlike where Shiromari had once sat. They looked like a cross between castles and towers, built from a mottled grey stone.

The whole place was sprawling, dense, and strangely beautiful.

The city was situated at a high enough elevation that I could see the churning ocean to the north, at least a week's travel away. It stretched off into the distance before being swallowed by stormy clouds and more of that endless snowy haze.

The southern entrance to the city was a large torii styled gate, and many guards were manning the gatehouse, all dressed in plain grey amour, and they carried long swords that could only be katana.

Fucking weebs.

"What is your purpose here?" The captain of the group said firmly.

"We are passing through on our way to the Land of Bears," I said honestly, "We didn't prepare proper clothing for the journey, and hope to buy some actual supplies."

"Where did you come from?" The captain said sternly.

"The Land of the Mountain," I said easily.

"We've had reports that a large earthquake has taken place in the Land of the Mountains," The captain said evenly, "Have you any news?"

"Oh!" I said, surprised, "That big ass mountain _totally_ exploded!"

I felt Karenbana shift minutely to look at me; we had agreed not to mention it to anyone. I would be paying for this later.

"What do you mean?" The captain said uneasily.

"Yeah, that massive one on the east-side with all the dead land around it?" I nodded excitedly, "The entire top half suddenly just exploded for no reason; nobody has any idea what was going on."

The captain looked flabbergasted, so I kept ongoing.

"Me and my wife here were making our way along the west coast, fishing, and camping, you know?" I said happily, and I felt Karenbana twitch violently. "Then there was this massive _crack_ , and we ran up to the top of that big hill near the water, and wow!"

I reached over and pulled Karenbana bodily against me, and she let me do it for the sake of my sudden bullshit cover story. I absolutely knew she was going to kick my ass for this later, but it was totally worth it to see her cheeks glowing red.

"I always hated that mountain; it seemed to be a bad omen, killing everything around it." I shook my head, "I'm honestly glad it's gone, whoever was responsible for it deserves a medal or a monetary reward of some kind; maybe we could start up some kind of crowdfunding for it?"

Karenbana had slipped her hand up the back of my shirt and was currently pinching my back skin with all of her ninja might. It was incredibly painful, and I could feel tears welling up in the corner of my eyes. I wiped my hand over my eyes and smiled tearily at the guards.

"Say, mind if we go find those supplies?" I asked happily.

The captain of the gatehouse just nodded uneasily.

* * *

We stayed in a small hotel for only two nights before setting out and buying proper snow gear for the trip. It didn't take us long to find it all; nearly every place that had clothes for sale had the same snow-type gear, and we left soon after. Neither of us wanted to stay here too long in case the Mount Koryū situation _was_ traced back to us somehow.

We headed north to the coast, and the closer we got to it, the windier it became.

The waters were rough up here, waves high and tumbling down, not at all like the still, calm, coast at Land of the Keys. It took us a week to actually get the waterfront, and I was glad I had brought so many rocks with us because the wind was strong enough that I had eventually just set up a large pile of stones just to make a windbreak.

I _finally_ managed to goad Karenbana into summoning Shiromari again, this time while I was actually around to speak to him. The chameleon was gigantic, invisible, and had bright red eyes that vanished as soon as he blinked. Karenbana sat on the ground panting from the effort of summoning it, using about ninety percent of her chakra to accomplish the feat.

Shiromari was fucking _terrifying_ like this.

"Karenbana-chan, you have summoned me once more." Shiromari rumbled, "Are you in need of assistance?"

"N-no, Shiromari-sama," Karenbana panted, "I haven't got much experience with the summoning technique; I wanted to, try and become, more proficient with it, I'm sorry, for disturbing you."

What a suck-ass.

"Yo, Shiromari," I said cheerfully, "What's it been like being back at home? It had been a while, hadn't it? You have kids all grown up now? They must have been happy to see you."

Karenbana swiped at me with her hand but missed; she was still pretty out of it from the massive loss of chakra. Shiromari rumbled something incoherent out, and after a moment, I realized he was laughing.

"Ah, the man who saved me," Shiromari said gratefully, "Karenbana-chan spoke fondly of you. I owe you a great debt, why have you not signed my contract, Sora-kun?"

I grinned up at him.

"I wouldn't be able to summon you, buddy." I said honestly, "I don't have chakra, I have this weird-ass form of energy called 'Mana.'"

Shiromari rumbled out a curious noise, and his massive red eyes dipped low for a moment; oh, he was nodding. Karenbana was still panting on her knees, but she was also glaring at me for the disrespect.

I smirked at her.

"Say, Shiromari," I said curiously, "I know of several summoner guys that have access to a technique called the 'Sage Mode.' The Toads primarily, the Snakes, there are some others as well I'm pretty sure, have you got a version of it?"

Shiromari's massive red eyes widened slightly, while Karenbana looked lost at the topic.

"I am surprised you know of the technique at all; it is rarely talked about, even with those who sign the contracts." Shiromari rumbled curiously, "The Chameleons do indeed have access to such a technique, how did you come to hear of it?"

"I have this weird ability to know about things, its hard to explain honestly," I said cheerfully, "It's how I knew you needed our help in the first place."

"Interesting," Shiromari rumbled.

"Long story short," I said happily, "Karenbana here has decided to help me in my quest to stop a bunch of S-rank missing-ninja from destroying the world; I was hoping you could juice her up with that spicy Sage Chakra; that should be enough to get her on the level we need, because honestly? She's kind of weak now, despite all the help I keep giving her, I wouldn't want her to embarrass you guys in our first big fight."

Karenbana looked like she didn't know whether she was supposed to beat the shit out of me or not, probably wondering what the hell a Sage Mode was in the first place; it was greatly amusing.

"You have both done me a great service," Shiromari rumbled lowly, "It would infringe upon my honor to deny such a request, especially from one so selfless as to use that debt upon my new summoner instead of himself."

"You're the best, Shiromari." I said honestly, "I'll make sure to spread the word of how awesome you Chameleon guys are."

Shiromari rumbled out another laugh.

"Shiromari-sama?" Karenbana said nervously, unsure exactly what craziness I had just dropped on her.

"Karenbana-chan, the technique he is referring to is exceedingly dangerous. It will take a very long time to master," Shiromari rumbled seriously, "Once you begin the training, it is best to continue until you have mastered it."

Karenbana listened nervously.

"Yeah, you should totally start immediately," I said easily, "Else, we will probably all die, you know?"

Karenbana turned to stare at me quietly, but Shiromari rumbled out an agreement to my request.

"Karenbana-chan, I will summon you to the Land of the Chameleons in three days to begin the training." Shiromari rumbled firmly. "Until next time."

"See you around, Shiromari!" I said happily.

Shiromari dipped his head in goodbye before vanishing in a massive smoke cloud that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Karenbana finally managed to push herself unsteadily to her feet.

"Sora-" Karenbana said quietly.

"That's two months payment for when you finally get back," I said immediately and headed back to the ocean for more training. "You shitty bodyguard."

Karenbana made a motion as if to follow but stumbled immediately in exhaustion.

"You better learn it quickly, Karenbana," I called over my shoulder. "or I'll have to save the world on my own!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 24  
> Health Points - 1020/1020  
> Mana Points - 2413/2413  
> Vitality 102 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 134 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 258 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 67 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 32 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 201 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 3.5 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 42 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 49 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 35.5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 34.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 142  
> Perception Rating - 67  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.  
> Money (moon dollars) - $4,668.  
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)


	18. Dreaming of Solitude

Traveling alone _sucked_ , it sucked so bad that I would almost rather be crossing the Land of Wind again as long as I could have someone with me.

I missed Karenbana.

I’m not going to lie; we had spent so much time talking shit, fighting, arguing, training, and everything else in between, and suddenly I was on my own again.

It sucked.

I mean sure, it had its upsides, I no longer had to pretend to eat, I no longer had to pretend to sleep, I could train at odd hours, and it gave me nothing but time to think. No distractions, no derailed thoughts, no sudden arguments, nothing.

_It fucking sucked._

Either way, by the time I had passed the border to the Land of the Bears, I incredible lonely; by the time I had crossed the border into the Land of the Earth, I was spending every waking moment training everything I could think of, trying to distract myself from the crushing loneliness.

I almost wished I had actually gone to check out Hoshigakure and that strange meteor while I’d had the chance. I probably could have found someone to talk to there, at least for a little while.

I stuck to the coast because I knew that if I headed inland, I would undoubtedly get lost in the massive country; if my map had something resembling actual scale to it, the Land of Earth was almost as big as the Land of Wind, but this time I didn’t have a ninja escort showing me where to go.

Occasionally I would feel someone enter my range, but it was rare.

Most of the time, it was a chunin level ninja with their squad, probably on some kind of patrol; some of them watched me for a while but most left me alone after they saw nothing suspicious. Those moments were honestly the worst because it took all of my willpower not to just run up to them and start a conversation.

The ocean was much calmer here, and in the far distance, I could _almost_ make out some kind of landmass; I had to check my map before I realized it was probably one of the scattered islands surrounding the Land of Snow.

I wonder who ruled there now, was it that chakra armor jackass? Or had team seven saved the day and installed that princess into a rule that would turn it into the Land of Spring? Something to investigate at the next town perhaps, surely the current ruler of a _country,_ would be common knowledge.

Karenbana probably would have known off-hand, but she wasn’t here.

If it was Gatou? Datou? Whatever his name was, I would have to go take care of him; I’m not sure what that giant mirror heater thing staying off permanently would do, but I should probably check it out at least just in case.

Hmm, there were a couple of ninjas working for that guy, wasn’t there? Ice release users? Some guy that could create a massive whale and sink an iceberg, I remembered that. There were two others as well, but I couldn’t remember much about them other than that they were subordinate to the whale guy.

How far away could this coastal town possibly be? It had been _months_ ; I had to be getting close. I told Karenbana to ask about getting Shiromari to reverse summon her near Taki or something; otherwise, she would have no chance of arriving in time; another chameleon could act as a point of return for her.

Hopefully, that worked out, because if it didn’t, I was going to have a hell of a fight on my hands.

The situation in Taki was vague at best; I didn’t know when Akatsuki got there, I didn’t know how long they stayed, I didn’t know if they had hung around until the green-haired-girl had come back, or if they had gone to meet her at the border.

I didn’t know much of anything.

Akatsuki couldn’t be omniscient though; they still needed to do _some_ leg work to catch the Jinchuriki. Which meant that they needed to at least _check_ the place they expected her to be, surely? They couldn’t just know that she had, on a whim, decided to participate in the chunin exams.

Sure, Zetsu existed, but he wasn’t omniscient either; he had to travel to the location of the place he wanted intel on; whatever information he had delivered to Akatsuki about the Jinchuriki would have said that she tended to stay in the village.

They hadn’t ganked her in the chunin exams for a reason, and while it was possible that they _might_ have been scared of Gaara, but I highly doubted it. Kakuzu could have most likely handled him at that point, at least I thought so.

Gaara was a beast, but Kakuzu was a monster.

They had to must have found out she wasn’t in the village at _some point_ , and they had ganked her on the border from what I remembered. If that was the case, I felt it reasonable to assume that they had checked Takigakure for her first.

I really hoped I was right; otherwise, the green-haired-girl was probably going to die.

I eventually found a small coastal town in the Land of the Earth, and there were _people_ there _._ I had never been so happy to see strangers in my life. I think the random old dude I started chatting with out of nowhere must have thought I was crazy, but damn, it was nice to speak to someone.

I was making a somewhat decent time on this trip; I still had seven months left.

My next stop was Iwagakure.

I had originally been going to bypass Iwagakure entirely.

I had vague memories that the Steam and Lava Jinchuriki had stayed away from their own hidden village, but that might very well be wrong. I was _hoping_ they had stayed, though, because it would be another thorn in Akatsuki’s side if I could recruit them or something. I wasn’t sure when they went after Steam-lad, but It was possible he was still alive right now.

If I could drop an anonymous note to Steam-lad about the Akatsuki coming to get him, he might stick closer to the village or something. I wasn’t sure that it was Deidara and Sasori that went after him either, but It was the best guess I had.

* * *

Iwagakure was a very strange village.

It was carved into a mountain, or rather on top of a series of mountain _peaks_. Each of the massive peaks had been flattened somehow and covered in towering monstrosities they called buildings. Each of them connected in a bizarre array of sturdy bridges.

The entire place was dark, grey, and foreboding.

The slight detour was also completely useless because neither of the beastie boys were inside the village, or if they were, they were somehow invisible to my energy sense, which I highly doubted. I _could_ feel a massive chakra signature up in the tower, but it wasn’t a Jinchuriki.

It was probably that old guy with the bad back, and I had no intention of ever going near that guy when he could delete massive areas of matter at will. That was broken as hell; how they lost the war with Konoha is a mystery. Konoha had a _single guy_ that could teleport a lot, whoop de doo. They could have just had the old guy fly over to Konoha and give it the Nagato treatment, Cube Edition.

How _that_ had never happened is beyond me.

I forced myself to leave the Hidden village after a few days; as much as I was enjoying being around people, I couldn’t waste any more time here; I had a world to save.

* * *

With exactly five months left, I made it to the border of the Land of the Waterfalls.

There was a flash of something that might have once been satisfaction or triumph. Instead, it was like I was on autopilot, moving without purpose through a routine of training and traveling. Completely depersonalized, a passenger in my own body as life happened around me.

I didn’t know where Takigakure was located, so I headed east until I reached the border, days of travel, and nothing gained. I turned around immediately and started heading south, across the edge of the country.

A whole month of searching the country, and almost an entire lap around it, I abruptly started feeling energy Signatures bloom at the edge of my path. I had still almost missed it; if I had been a hundred meters east, I would have never felt anything.

With four months left, I found Takigakure.

* * *

I set up camp in a small ravine, close enough that I could feel about a tenth of the villagers in Takigakure, but remain far enough away to avoid any of the numerous patrols. I thought that finally reaching the place I had been thinking about for such a long time would bring some measure of feeling back, but instead, there was just nothing.

Everything was dull.

Almost every day, I slowly felt my Energy Sense cover more of the village, slowly but surely. I tried to create my energy defense, but I couldn’t find the focus needed to trigger the skill creation. I trained my other skills mindlessly instead, and I tried again after a month had passed but failed once more.

“Get it together, man.” I muttered quietly, “Do you want to die?”

A massive chakra signature appeared before cutting through the entrance of the village, two others following it at a decent clip as they left Takigakure behind. I had felt several things similar to it before; Naruto had been one of them. Back when we were at Sunagakure, Gaara had been another.

This was undoubtedly the green-haired-girl.

The feeling came rushing back to me in an instant, and I was halfway across the camp before I realized I had even moved. Wait, if she was leaving the village now, that meant she was probably heading towards the Chunin exams. If she was heading to the exams, that meant I barely had any time left until I had to fight.

I had lost track of time; how long did I have left? Two months?

Green-haired-girl would be heading to Konoha; first, that’s where the first part of the exam took place, wasn’t it? A month to get there, complete part one of the exams, another month to head to Suna, do the second stage, and have the exams canceled for interference.

Then she would be headed back here, which meant that Kakuzu and Hidan were probably going to check the village soon. I could feel about a quarter of the village now from my position with my Energy Sense growing larger every day; I wasn’t going to move closer yet; I would know if something happened in Takigakure if people started running away or something. I had the most commonly used entrance within my range anyway.

The panic had woken me from the fog that had clouded my mind for the last several months, and I started throwing everything I had into making sure I was ready. I _needed_ to start developing strategies for how to start the fight off and what they would most likely do when I attacked them.

There was _so much_ to plan, and I had wasted so much time.

* * *

Two and a half months later, I knew my time had finally run out when I felt two massive chakra signatures walk into my range. They both felt incredibly strange, but both in very different ways.

The first was cold, unmoving, and dense; it remained perfectly still with zero fluctuations, something I had never seen before. It held a large weapon that had a very faint chakra presence within it, almost as if it was the remnants of a previous chakra reinforcement.

The second signature dwarfed it; the only person who I had ever felt with a comparable level of chakra was Naruto; it was a constantly moving mass of chakra tendrils that could be nothing other than the black threads. Impossible to overlook was the four points of churning chakra that lined his back and the glowing core in his chest that could only be his own heart, all highly attuned to elements.

Hidan and Kakuzu, I had guessed _correctly_ , I waited for them, and they ended up coming _here_. I hadn’t fucked it all up, I hadn’t wasted my time, I hadn’t failed everybody I’d set out to find them, and I’d done it!

It felt like a weight was lifting from my shoulders, only for it to immediately resettle when I realized I was going to have to _fight_ them now, and I didn’t have anyone to help me.

Karenbana wasn’t back yet.

They were heading straight for the entrance of the village, with absolutely no attempt at Stealth. Then again, from what I remember, the standard Takigakure ninjas from the anime weren’t exactly known as being very strong, at least as far I recalled, but this was _real_ now surely there Jounin were just as strong as Kakashi, Ishidate, Renga, Ruiga and Jiga. I didn’t feel very confident in that deduction.

There _were_ outliers; of course, there always was when it came to individual strength.

Takigakure had produced the very man that I was about to fight, Kakuzu. There was also the Green-haired-girl, she was a Jinchuriki, and they were all pretty strong; there was that hero water villain nonsense as well, those guys were supposed to be strong, were they here? No wait, they were missing ninja.

Either way, I _wasn’t_ going to have a better opportunity to gank these guys. Then while they were fighting the rest of the village, I would let Taki do most of the legwork here and help from a distance; just scaring them off should be enough for now. I would stick to my strategy I had come up with, simple certainly, but hopefully effective. Stay at the max range and bombard them with Line Spears from a distance, before repositioning, stealthing, and ganking them all over again.

Sniper tactics, baby.

I started slowly heading towards Takigakure; by now, I had witnessed several different entrances to the village, all hidden incredibly well and very infrequently used. I made my way towards the least used of them all and sat at the entrance to wait. Nobody had spotted me approach, but then again, nobody had spotted the two Akatsuki members standing right at the main entrance, who were presumably waiting for someone to come tell them to fuck off.

They waited outside for an entire minute before heading inside through the main entrance. They entered entirely unchallenged, strode halfway across the empty grass field towards the edge of the village before noticed them.

I couldn’t _fucking_ believe it. I had more trouble getting into the fucking Land of Iron, are you _kidding_ me? Was this main story nonsense at work here? _Where_ were the gate guards today? Had they all vanished back into the village?

Why? Where was the god damned justice?!

I could already feel multiple Chunin level signatures moving to engage them, and most of them vanished from my Energy Sense, killed within moments. I quickly made my way through the hidden entrance, and it took me a long moment to get high enough up the small tunnel and out onto a ledge to get eyes on the pair.

I Observed them.

Name: Hidan  
Title: Member of Akatsuki  
Gender: Male  
Age: 22  
Level: 370  
Next Level: 82.32%  
Health Points - 9400/9400  
Chakra Points - 3000/3000  
Vitality 940  
Strength 250  
Speed 250  
Perception 100  
Intelligence 90  
Chakra 300  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Excitement.

History: Hidan is an S-rank missing-nin who defected from Yugakure and later joined the Akatsuki. There, he was partnered with Kakuzu, despite the two's somewhat mutual dislike of each other. Hidan is a religious fanatic that follows the faith of Jashin.

What the hell? Hidan was only twenty-two years old?

I’m not sure when _my_ birthday was exactly, but I was fairly sure that I’m at least a year or two older than him. Kakashi was older than him, what the hell? How was he so strong? His health was the largest I had ever seen; it was ludicrously larger then any others I had ever seen. These were just the base stats as well, I had no idea what his chakra reinforcement bonus was, but I assumed it was large.

Hidan was a _monster_ , but Kakuzu was something even worse than that.

Name: Kakuzu  
Title: Member of Akatsuki  
Gender: Male  
Age: 91  
Level: 450  
Next Level: 12.32%  
Health Points – 4000/4000  
Chakra Points - 10000/10000  
Vitality 400  
Strength 350  
Speed 300  
Perception 110  
Intelligence 150  
Chakra 1000  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Impatience. Annoyance.

History: Kakuzu is an S-rank missing-nin from Takigakure and a member of Akatsuki, who is currently partnered with Hidan. Kakuzu has once attempted to assassinate the First Hokage; while he failed, he managed to escape with his life. Kakuzu is the bearer of the Earth Grudge Fear.

Four-hundred-and-fifty.

I’m not going to lie; I was starting to have some serious thoughts about letting the green-haired-chick just take one for the team. I had been _far_ too optimistic coming into this; he almost had as much chakra as the nine-tailed Jinchuriki, he was half a durable as Hidan, his base Strength and Speed were both leagues above everyone else.

That was _before_ the hidden bonus.

They _both_ had higher base stats then Kakashi, well Hidan probably was about the same level as him maybe? I hadn’t seen Kakashi’s stats in what, a year and a half? Two? How long had it been exactly? I’m not sure, but I’m almost positive he had gotten a lot stronger since then. He was over two hundred back then; he might well be up in the three hundred by now.

I had gotten my ass kicked by Karenbana when she had a base speed of two-hundred-forty the last time I had seen her; I had almost the exact _same_ Speed at the time.

Kakuzu had fucking _three hundred._ Could I even _track_ him in an actual fight? They weren’t exactly trying hard against the chunin right now, and I had a good view of the area, so it was probably messing with my perception of how fast they were moving.

The quality of Waterfalls Jounin must have been pretty low after all; because they died only slightly slower than the chunin. Almost twenty people had already died in total, and I had just been sitting here frozen like a coward.

I lifted my finger and pointed it at Kakazu and then hesitated; what was I doing? There were people _everywhere_ ; I would hit someone. How had I not thought of friendly fire? _Fuck._

I started moving closer despite every bone in my body, screaming at me that it was a terrible idea, and I was about to die. I got close enough to start having difficulty following their movements, and then I pointed at Hidan when he stopped for a moment before switching targets back to Kakuzu.

_Stick to the plan, dumbass._

“Line Spear.” I gritted out angrily because if I didn’t say the words, I was never going to act.

It flashed across the distance and tore through Kakuzu’s throat, out the other side of his neck before going through three buildings behind him. Kakuzu dropped the chunin he was holding by the jaw and turned to look directly at me, completely unbothered by the hole in his neck.

_I fucking missed._

A black shape tore out of his shoulder in an instant, and a mask rolled forward before unleashing a series of flashing fireballs that rocketed towards my position at blurring speeds. I dove to the side of the rooftop to avoid them, and shot again, missing him as he skipped to the side in preparation for a terrifyingly strong leap forward. I unleashed five-line spears at his flight path, but he was already spinning away from the attacks before I had even fired, a hand connected by black threads gripping the roof to accomplish the mid-air roll.

None of them hit, and then Kakuzu was on me. _This wasn’t the plan!_

I put a third of my Mana into Iron Hide and blocked his straight punch. My defense held, but I was sent smashing down through the roof of the house to impact the floor below. I immediately Jaunted towards the closest door and crashed through it as he came down through the hole I’d made. I barely spun around the corner of the door as a hand flashed forward and _turned around the fucking corner, still heading straight towards me._

I Jaunted back another ten meters and raised my finger to aim past the hand at where the door was, in preparation for him coming out. Kakuzu changed direction suddenly and came through the _fucking wall_ to my left with his hand already outstretched towards my face, and I was forced to Jaunt backward again or be caught.

I adjusted my finger to aim at where he was sliding through the remains of the walls, already tracking me again. Vision had increased my reflexes enough to at least _kind_ of track him, but his _Speed_ andagility and aggressionwere overwhelming enough that I couldn’t move fast enough when he was this close.

All I could do was spend huge amounts of Mana to try and survive.

The fire mask was on the roof above him; I Jaunted _again_ to avoid the fireballs that exploded on contact and reappeared back on the roof behind the mask. Kakuzu must have heard me land on the roof because he leaped up into the air again, twisted in mid-air, and launched his fist straight at my new position.

I shot at the fire mask, missed, and then jaunted back to where I had first taken the first shot at him about a foot in the air above the ledge. I immediately toggled Stealth on while I was out of his line of sight before dropping silently to the floor, and the second I was still, I dropped into Meditate.

Kakuzu didn’t immediately come after me, so he must have been tracking me via sound. He also didn’t stand still and make it easy for me; he immediately started dashing around and searching the area for my position at a speed that I could barely follow even from back here. I kept track of his fire mask as it intercepted him during one of his many passes and reunited with him.

This was _fucking insane_ ; I had almost died at least four times already.

I _knew_ his move set in advance; I built a skillset literally for fighting _him_ and Hidan in mind, but it didn’t make a bit of difference; he just adjusted on the fly to everything I did; he had already figured out to keep out of the line of my hands to avoid the line spears after the first fucking shot.

The only thing keeping me alive was the ability to instant cast Jaunt and my hard-fought mana regeneration. I should have tried to create a muffle sound skill; counting on being able to hide from S-rank ninjas was fucking stupid; why didn’t I think of that?

I took a few deep breaths and then calmed myself down as best I could.

Hidan was still fighting half the village in a furious melee that was leaving everyone dead or critically injured, his Speed and strength were just too high for any of them to contest him in melee, but range attacks didn’t work on him, not enough power or penetration in their water styled attacks or there throwing weapons.

I snapped my head back around to track Kakuzu as he suddenly started directly towards my position, _somehow_ spotting me through Stealth. I immediately started raining down line spears on his position, but nothing hit him, as he started stopping, dashing, and juking around, and it made every god damned shot miss by a mile.

He ducked behind a corner of a building, out of my sight for less than a tenth of a second before reappearing, and I could feel the lighting mask he had released in that small time frame flanking back around me and sticking to cover.

How the fuck did Kakashi hit this guy with _Chidori_? It was noisy as fuck; I don’t give a _shit_ what happened in the series. It was just not possible that he had managed to sneak up on this guy.

I couldn’t hit him without Stealth, not unless I managed to wear him down or he fucked up, and I didn’t think he was going to give me a free hit any time soon. The masks were his weakness here; they weren’t nearly as agile as he was; I had to start whittling them down.

I was going to fucking cheat.

I kept on firing at him as he _pretended_ to be getting overwhelmed, all the while the lightning mask was sneaking up behind me, and I _pretended_ not to notice it. I kept on firing until I felt the mask peek its head around the corner behind me, and then I Jaunted directly behind it without any warning.

My finger was already up at the right height for the perfect shot, and I could feel the position of the mask amongst the tendrils by its crackling energy signature.

My line Spear tore through the tendrils through the mask and carried on across most of the village before disappearing. The chakra signal died, and the masked thing crumbled to the floor. I immediately felt Kakuzu building up a massive amount of chakra in his fire and wind masks.

Oh fuck.

The sudden orb of growing fire expanded towards my position at a furious pace, taking with it buildings, roads, and trees without stopping, an ever-expanding orb of heat and rage that left everything in cinders behind it. I burned through at least two thousand Mana to escape its path, and I could already feel Kakuzu moving towards me again.

Half of Takigakure was on fire.

It would likely spread in time, but there was nothing I could do about that; I didn’t have anything to put it out with, I would have to leave it up to whoever was left of the Takigakure ninja.

Kakazu had three masks left, Water, Fire, and Wind, along with what I was _assuming_ was his original Earth natured heart because it wasn’t currently contained in a mask. I felt another massive build-up of chakra in the Wind Mask before it unleashed what could only be described as a hurricane that hit the fire and sent it flaring up _everywhere._

There was nowhere left in this quarter of the village that wasn’t on fire now.

The city burned, and I desperately fled in the only direction I could that wasn’t on fire, straight up the natural cliff walls that surrounded Takigakure. I tried launching Line Spears down at him as best I could, but nothing hit, and I was left to sprint horizontally across the wall to avoid the flashing fireballs and wind bursts that exploded against the cliff above, sending debris raining down on me.

Kakuzu landed on the wall behind me

He started sprinting towards me in a large arc, circling around my position to get above me. I took shots at him, but he was moving to fast for my aiming to matter now; he reached directly above me on the wall and flashed through half a hundred hand seals before he and the Water Mask started spewing out a massive river of mud straight down the wall at me. I desperately jaunted back down to the city, dumping more and more of my Mana just to avoid his relentless pursuit.

I was in flee mode at this point, with no thought of countering in any meaningful way, he anticipated everything I threw at him, and nothing seemingly slowed him down.

I managed to just clear the river with Speed born of desperation and turned to run sideways along the wall again, I had almost managed to clear the fire below, but he was overtaking me on the wall now, further above.

I stared at him in horror as he came down at me.

Just as he was about to reach me, I raised my arm directly in front of me and then Jaunted directly behind him, he spun underneath my Line Spear the second I had disappeared, already moving to avoid it _before_ I had even fired.

How the fuck did-

Kakuzu’s leg smashed through my hasty guard and launched me straight off the cliff face, back towards the village. I burned another thousand mana, and Iron Hide barely held under the massive force of his attack, but I was left flipping uncontrollably through the air. I could feel that I was getting closer to Hidan’s position rapidly, and there was barely anyone left around him now.

Kakuzu was already off the wall and dashing towards me, still ten seconds out at most, while Hidan heard me and jumped straight towards me in the air.

I Jaunted ten meters above and behind him, dumping the momentum in an instant and sending a barrage of line spears at his back. Two of them hit and went straight through him, not that he seemed to notice, having already spun around in mid-air and launched his massive triple-blade-scythe towards me, it tore through the air towards me, trailing a thick cable.

Just as it was about to hit, I attempted to perform the first step of my Hidan suppression plan.

I Jaunted behind the scythe and desperately grabbed for the handle, but I ended up grabbing the cable. Instead, I immediately fired five-line spears at the cable, and it snapped under the force.

The scythe kept tearing through the air to stab blade first into a building. Kakuzu was barely seconds away now, and I Jaunted four times towards the scythe, landing on the handle, and wobbling dangerously for a second before I caught my balance.

I dropped into Meditate while standing on the shaft of the scythe, hoping for a couple of seconds reprieve.

Today was my lucky day, apparently, because Kakuzu landed next to Hidan, spoke a few words, too far away for me to hear, and then they approached me at an even pace. Hidan looked pissed off, but Kakuzu looked a lot calmer than he had barely thirty seconds before. He had seemingly unleashed most of his rage already.

They stopped below me on the street, not even bothering to take defensive postures.

“You look fucking stupid!” Hidan laughed, “Why don’t you buy a fucking mask, you dumb fuck?!”

I felt a little bit embarrassed actually, I hadn’t remembered to buy one at Iwa. So I was left to tie a spare shirt around the bottom of my face by the sleeves.

I wasn’t going to let some sweaty little twenty-two-year-old fuckstick talk to me that way though.

“Listen here, you fuck-nugget,” I said angrily, “I didn’t have time to buy one because I was too busy fucking your mother!”

Hidan started laughing harder.

“Kakuzu of Takigakure and Hidan of Yugakure,” I managed after I regained my composure. “Why are you attacking Takigakure? “

“You know who _I_ am, _on sight_?” Hidan said, astonished, “Kakuzu! I’m famous!”

Kakuzu suddenly pushed a massive amount of chakra into his remaining masks; I inventoried the Scythe and Jaunted up onto the roof, heart thudding at the suddenness of it.

Kakuzu hadn’t even twitched, and the chakra settled.

“You are a sensor.” Kakuzu deduced instantly. “That’s how you were tracking me.”

_Fuck._

“Huh?” Hidan said loudly, “Let’s just kill him already; I want my fucking scythe back!”

Fucking Hidan, most of the village was burning, and I hadn’t seen a single person still moving in the last few minutes; everyone had either fled or been killed. They hadn’t done this is the series, had they? Is this my fault? Did I cause this?

Had all these people died because I had come to _help_?

“You’ve already killed most of the village,” I said darkly, “Is that what you came back here to do? Destroy Takigakure? Revenge on the village taught you?”

“You’re stalling,” Kakuzu said evenly.

Of course, I was fucking stalling.

I only needed a little bit more time, and I would be back to full-Three chakra signatures suddenly appeared at the edge of my range.

Oh no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Status  
> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 23  
> Health Points - 2680/2680  
> Mana Points - 4789/6639  
> Vitality 268 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 303 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 491 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 104 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 47 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 573 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 7 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 111.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 120.5 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 104 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 106.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 666  
> Perception Rating - 104  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.
> 
> Money (moon dollars) - $4,668.
> 
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)  
> Stealth – (None)


	19. Dreaming of Failure

This timing couldn’t be real; there was no way that the green-hair-girl had come back already. We hadn’t even been fighting for half an hour! Why were they here now?! I could have tried to make them retreat with an extended battle, try, and whittle Kakuzu’s masks down and make it a pyrrhic victory at best. Green-haired-girl and her two Jounin teammates were already halfway through the entrance. Now I somehow had to try and defend three people as well; it was impossible, they were all going to die, and I was probably going to die as well.  
  
The enormous tree in the center of the village had caught fire now, from one of the numerous fire attacks that had been lancing around the battlefield. Thick and dark smoke was rushing up above the village and high into the air; they had have seen the smoke coming from wherever they had been and sprinted here.  
  
“Give me back my weapon, you fuck!” Hidan said angrily.  
  
They were almost here.  
  
“Where is everyone!?” The Green-haired-girl cried, “Anybody?!”  
  
I observed her from a distance.

* * *

Name: Fu  
Title: Jinchuriki of the Seven Tailed Beast  
Gender: Female  
Age: 20  
Level: 189  
Next Level: 73.37%  
Health Points - 1400/1400  
Chakra Points - 12730/12730  
Vitality 310  
Strength 307  
Speed 225  
Perception 93  
Intelligence 70  
Chakra 1273  
Status Effects: N/A.  
Emotions: Despair, Panic, Fear.  
  
History: Fu was born in Takigakure and later became the Jinchuriki of the Seven Tailed Beast at a young age. Fu wants to make lots of friends.

* * *

I could feel one the Jounin break off from the group and start circling up behind me; he and his teammate were a great deal stronger than most of the Jounin from earlier, judging by what they felt like.  
  
This was going to end badly; they had no reason to trust anything I said; I would have to try anyway.  
  
“Green-haired-girl!” I said loudly, “Focus on evasion! Aim for the masks! They are both S-rank missing-ninja, don’t let the white-haired guy get anyone’s blood, or he can remotely kill you!”  
  
Kakuzu was halfway through a water technique before I had even gotten halfway through the sentence. I Jaunted behind the Jonin, who had stopped directly behind me up on the building and grabbed him on the shoulder as the massive wave of water crashed down on us, and I Jaunted us both directly up into the air.  
  
I had a second to register that his name was Yoro before he broke out of my grip with force and lashed out at me; I barely managed to get my arm in the way of his kick, and Yoro used the force of it to launch himself to safety, and me down towards the water below.  
  
Wow, thanks, asshole!  
  
I jaunted over to a rooftop above the other Jonin, Kegon, who was flashing through a series of hand seals. All of the water that Kakuzu had summoned actually helped fuel his technique as Kegon launched a massive wave of a shuriken made of water at where the two Akatsuki members were still standing.  
  
Hidan howled in glee before leaping straight through the attack without taking any damage and ripping a black spike out from under his cloak. Kegon managed to jump back out of the way, and Hidan gave chase as he started retreating across the rooftops.  
  
Fu charged straight at Kakuzu before she launched into a series of kicks at his chest and head. Kakuzu seemingly fended them off with absolutely no effort on his part, completely reading her movements before breaking through her next kick and grabbing her by the face.  
  
I jaunted behind him with my finger planted against his back, and I knew it was a mistake because the second I appeared, his fire mask abruptly spat out a massive ball of fire in my face and launched me back from the explosive force of it.  
  
“Fuck!” I screamed in pain.  
  
I closed my eyes desperately as the fire rushed over me, and my line spear tore through his upper shoulder instead of the mask. Kakuzu spun around before smashing Fu into the ground by her head, and she cried out. I started blind firing at where I could feel him standing and dumping Mana into Heals until my skin stopped crying out in agony.  
  
Kakuzu was forced to let go of her to move out of the way.  
  
The line spear barrage missed him entirely, but a moment later, a wave of shuriken rained down on Kakuzu, who immediately zig-zagged back across the ground in a series on small hops that allowed him to remain untouched by the falling stars. I shot at where he was going to land, and he pulled himself behind a building with an extended hand. I felt him spit out two masks as soon as he was out of sight, the fire one immediately went after Kegon.  
  
“Incoming fire mask after your friend!” I called loudly before I jaunted over to grab Fu by the back of the shirt before tossing her over my shoulder  
  
The wind mask spat out a series of wind bullets at my position, so I jaunted up back onto the nearest roof. Fu was bleeding from the face, so I dumped about three hundred Mana into a heal, and she immediately woke up. I jaunted away from Kakuzu’s reaching arm and then showered the stretching appendage with lines of Mana.  
  
I actually managed to land a couple of hits on it, probably because Kakuzu was too now busy stabbing his threads straight through Yoro’s chest.  
  
“Who are you?” Fu cried out, from her position over my shoulder, unable to see what was happening to her friend.  
  
“Sora!” I yelled back, “You good to fight again, green-haired-girl?”  
  
“Yes!” Fu called back, “My name is Fu!”  
  
I dropped her on the next roof and then turned back towards where Kakuzu was, I was too late to save Yoro, but I managed to land two hits on the heart that Kakuzu was pulling out of his chest, and he immediately dropped the man.  
  
Kakuzu surged towards them again before vanishing behind another building towards where Fu was. Fu’s chakra had been building up for something big for a few seconds, so I moved to draw Kakuzu’s attention as best I could with another barrage. Kakuzu, with his insane ability to figure out where I was aiming, dodged everything with apparent ease.  
  
I heard Fu call something out in warning that I couldn’t hear, and then suddenly, there was a massive amount of sparkling powder covering the entire area for several blocks. I got caught in the edge of it, and when I came out of my reflexive Jaunt, I was completely blind; I immediately hit myself with a Status Removal, and my vision came back  
  
Kakuzu had leaped straight into the air in an attempt to avoid it, but a trail of sparkling dust was following him, and his eyes were blinking furiously; he was in the process of spearing an arm out towards at building when I shot him three times in the chest. I felt his Wind Mask die before his hand managed to snag the corner of the rooftop and then dragged himself straight through the wall of the building, going for cover.  
  
I started shooting at where I could feel him through the building, and the Line Spears cut straight through all of the walls and out the other side with ease, but none of them hit; he was moving too erratically. His fire mask had begun to speed back towards us, heading towards where Kakuzu was.  
  
Kakuzu only had his original Earth heart in him; this was the only chance we had to kill him.  
  
“Get the fire mask!” I shouted.  
  
Fu immediately leaped in that direction while I continued to bombard Kakuzu while he crashed through walls in an attempt to avoid the barrage. Kakuzu changed direction abruptly and headed straight towards where his mask was giving up his deception in return for speed.  
  
I jaunted in between him and the mask before dropping into Meditate, and I started firing a continuous stream of Line Spears at him to keep him at bay, and despite the bonus Mana Recovery, my Mana was dropping far too quickly to sustain this for long.  
  
I could feel Fu engaging the fire mask, and several fireballs narrowly avoided hitting me due to her efforts to keep it off me. I couldn’t move to avoid the attacks or Meditate would crash, so I kept on shooting at Kakuzu to slow him down. I had a visual on him now, and he was more threads then skin, and the skin that was still there was riddled with holes.  
  
Kakuzu was growing larger and wider by the second, stretching out his mass of threads to make it harder for me to hit his remaining heart. It was a move born of desperation because we both knew that I could feel exactly where it was inside the mass.  
  
Kakuzu moved his heart around inside the thread mass in short bursts trying his best to avoid all the lines but eventually, more due to luck than anything, I landed a shot that grazed it, and he spasmed violently from the pain.  
  
Kakuzu was stunned momentarily, which gave me just enough time to land a more solid hit that took his original heart out of action. Kakuzu immediately fell to the ground like his strings had been cut, all of his threads drawing back inside his torn and shredded body in a burst of movement.  
  
The fire mask desperately tried to make its way past Fu to revive Kakuzu. I couldn’t let that happen, so I used the last of my Mana to Jaunt towards his body and then inventoried it. I felt the fire mask pause from the suddenly lost connection to its host, and then Fu smashed it into a million pieces.

* * *

Your level has increased by 7.

* * *

I immediately stopped casting everything except Meditate and watched as my Mana abruptly started to rise back up for the dangerously low amount I’d had left. Fu was still investigating the disintegrating mask when I reached half of the total Mana again.  
  
I gave up on recovering Mana when I felt Kegon’s chakra abruptly draining at an insane rate and started sprinting towards him and Hidan. Whatever Kegon was doing was going to leave him with nothing left if he didn’t stop soon. I arrived just in time to see Hidan put his spike through Kegon’s chest, there was shuriken absolute everywhere, and barely a second after he slumped to the ground, they vanished into smoke, leaving a thousand holes behind.  
  
“Hidan,” I hissed.  
  
“I want my fucking weapon!” Hidan howled in a rage and glee as he leaped towards me.  
  
I jaunted behind him and shot him in the back, and it pierced through him and out the other side but did absolutely nothing to slow him down. I hadn’t expected it too, but my strategy wasn’t to one-shot him, because that was impossible. Hidan spun around to face me before lunging again, but I just jaunted up onto the roof behind him and then shot him in the back again.  
  
“Come down here and fight me, you fuck!” Hidan howled.  
  
Needless to say, I didn’t; instead, I kept at least ten meters between us at all times and gave him the Yoko treatment. Hidan threw his spike at me sometime later, but I just Jaunted out of the way and then inventoried it on the next pass.  
  
I had to constantly drop into Meditate after each reposition to keep my Mana running, and if Hidan had any more range options left, this probably wouldn’t have worked, but his cloak was long since shredded, and all he had on was a pair of trousers, with no pouches insight.  
  
I could feel Fu watching from up on a roof, and she remained there until Hidan didn’t have enough muscle mass left in his legs to hold his body up, and by that point, he was just trying to escape. I started focusing on his lower back as he desperately tried to crawl away.  
  
Hidan cursed and shouted the entire time, even after I started on his neck.  
  
“I’m going to fucking bite you to death, you stupid fuck!” Hidan raged, practically frothing at the mouth.  
  
I inventoried his limbs each time I managed to sever them, and then his torso when I finally separated his head from his body. It took me almost five minutes of unending attacks at Hidan’s head for it to be considered non-living enough to go into my inventory, and he raged until he no longer had the parts left to speak.

* * *

Your level has increased by 7.

* * *

Quest Completed  
Kill Kakuzu and Hidan.  
Objectives  
Save the Green-haired-girl!  
Save the two-tailed-chick!  
Save Asuma!  
Rewards  
Exalted reputation with Fu.  
Exalted reputation with Shibuki.  
Exalted reputation with Takigakure.  
Exalted reputation with Yoro.  
Exalted reputation with Kegon.

* * *

I just stared at the notification, a twisted feeling trying to rip its way out of my chest. I could have completed the quest and saved them all, but I hadn’t because I wasted all that time wallowing, instead of training or coming up with better strategies, or informing the villagers that Akatsuki was coming.  
  
I could hear Fu crying her eyes out over on the other roof, and it made the guilt even harder to ignore. I had come here to save her, and I did, but the cost was every other person that lived here; what kind of fucking monkey’s paw outcome was this?  
  
The great tree in the Village Hidden in the Waterfalls burned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Status  
> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 37  
> Health Points - 2680/2680  
> Mana Points - 4789/6639  
> Vitality 268 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 303 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 491 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 104 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 47 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 573 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 70  
> Health Recovery Rate – 7 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 111.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 120.5 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 104 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 106.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 666  
> Perception Rating - 104  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.
> 
> Money (moon dollars) - $4,668.
> 
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)  
> Stealth – (None)


	20. Dreaming of Konoha

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.  
  
Fu started crying again.  
  
I stared at the ground at my feet, unable to look at her; I didn’t know what I was supposed to do now; I’d fucked this up badly. Takigakure was still burning to the ground, and neither of us had any water techniques to deal with this amount of fire. It had already spread to the rest of the village, and we had been forced to evacuate because of the heat and smoke.  
  
The conflagration had also dropped burning debris from the enormous tree on the surrounding areas and started multiple fires through the forest. We had needed to move several hundred meters away from Takigakure to avoid getting caught in the flames.  
  
I didn’t know what to do now; there were things I needed to check on, things that I couldn’t ignore, but what if I messed up again? What would go wrong if I fucked up even worse than I had here? But If I just _stopped_ and didn’t do _anything,_ the world might end.  
  
I was stuck between a rock and an even bigger rock.  
  
I knew that the timeline for Shippuden was about to start because this shit had been one of Akatsuki’s opening moves along with capturing the Steam guy. I was fairly sure that Gaara was next in line; I most likely had less than six months at most. Which meant that the Land of Demons shitshow was going to start straight afterward, if not during or before.  
  
Should I attempt to interfere with that as well? Deidara had kicked Gaara’s ass before abducting him. Deidara had even gotten away from the events mostly unscathed, or maybe down a limb or something? But he _had_ still gotten away, to later fight Sasuke.  
  
That old puppet lady and Sakura had managed to somehow take Sasori down originally, but Gaara had still been killed and his tailed beast taken. The old puppet lady had then revived him at the cost of her life.  
  
It was a pretty weak summary of events, but I couldn’t remember all the finer details.  
  
If I tried to help and everything went _well_ , I could keep Gaara from having the tailed beast taken in the first place, I might also be able to keep the old lady alive, and she was pretty strong, from what I remembered, another strong ninja available to help stop the end of the world.  
  
But what if I fucked it up as I did here?  
  
What if I tried to help Gaara and Deidara blew up the village with his suicide technique or something? Did I let bad things happen, to avoid the chance of worse things happening? What were you supposed to do in situations like these?  
  
It was a warped version of the trolly problem in a way.  
  
Did I let the train run over Gaara, and one of the others ends up sacrificing her life to save him, or did I try and derail the train while desperately hoping I wasn’t sending it straight towards Sunagakure to potentially murder _tens of thousands_.  
  
Okay, maybe the comparison had fallen apart entirely, but it made sense to _me,_ at least.  
  
We had to move again a few days later because the fire had started taking more of the forest. Fu followed me towards the border of the Land of Fire because she didn’t have a home to return to, and we stopped just short of it by several miles, to set up a temporary camp.  
  
There was a hive of activity along the border, ninja being sent out to investigate the massive fires in the Land of Waterfalls. I don’t know if many had managed to escape Takigakure or if any had at all, but if they had, the news would spread quickly. If the circumstances had been different, I would have probably gone straight over the border and spun some bullshit story to get through, but I couldn’t do that with Fu here.  
  
“Why did they-” Fu whispered, “What was the _point_?”  
  
I let out a long breath.  
  
“Fu,” I said quietly, “I suck at this kind of thing, so I’m just going to say it bluntly, they were after you because you’re a Jinchuriki.”  
  
“ _Why_? And how do _you_ know what I am?” Fu whispered, “You’re not from Taki.”  
  
“They want to extract all of the tailed beasts and kill all the hosts,” I said evenly. “I know _who_ you are because I know who all of the Jinchuriki are.”  
  
“I wasn’t _even_ in the village!” Fu said heatedly before she suddenly started crying again. “Shibuki told me I shouldn’t have left.”  
  
“You did what you wanted to do; there’s no shame in that.” I said easily, “You had no idea you were even being hunted; it’s not your fault.”  
  
 _It’s mine_ ; I didn’t say.  
  
It was, at least partially, I could have gone here first, told them about the Akatsuki perhaps, instead of going off on an adventure to find a stupid sword that I hadn’t even used because I was too scared to get close to either of them, couldn’t even track them properly in close combat.  
  
I could have engaged Kakuzu and Hidan _outside_ the village, even though I probably would have died. I had let them attack them first, so _I_ had a better chance to fight them and live.  
  
I was hardly any better than they were.  
  
“Fu,” I said evenly, “I’m trying to do a lot of important stuff, and one of those things is to try to stop Akatsuki from doing things like _this_.”  
  
I was trying and failing pretty badly, though, given the current state of the Land of Waterfall. Fu couldn’t know how depressing my thoughts were, too buried in her own grief, but I’d managed to drag out her of her sorrow for a _moment,_ at least.  
  
“Do you want to help me stop them?” I said quietly.  
  
Fu didn’t even wait a moment before she spoke up.  
  
“Yeah,” Fu whispered. “I do.”

* * *

We stayed at the border for a few more days, and then I finally felt a strange chakra signature appear on the edge of my range. Small, powerful, fast, and definitely not human, it was also going the wrong way.

“Fu,” I said suddenly, “Time to go.”

“What?” Fu yelped, “Where are we going?”

I didn’t reply, already angling to intercept the stupidly fast-moving creature; it was bouncing off of trees and the ground with ninja-level agility. When we got within perhaps a hundred meters of it, it abruptly stopped, possibly having heard us, it remained perfectly still on the side of a tree.

I cleared the last of the trees and landed directly in front of the creature, to find that absolutely _nothing_ was there.

“Yo,” I said easily, “I’m Sora.”

Fu landed beside me, looking confused.

The Chameleon suddenly appeared on the side of the tree with no transition; it was just there as if it always had been.

“How’d you find me, though?” The Chameleon whined.

Fu made an alarmed noise at the sudden appearance of the dog-sized lizard, but I just crossed my arms.

“You’re supposed to introduce yourself first, you know.” I said dryly, “Besides, a wizard never reveals his secrets.”

“Oh, I’m Shirokuto,” Shirokuto said curiously, “What the heck is a wizard?”

I just grinned at the creature.

“Hi, Shirokuto!” Fu said excitedly, “I’m Fu!”

Fu’s eyes were wide as she took in the strange creature.

“Hi.” Shirokuto said bemused.

“You guys were pretty late,” I said honestly, “The fighting is already over.”

Shirokuto groaned.

“It took me so long to get here, too,” Shirokuto whined.

“Where were you when they called?” I asked curiously.

“Land of Tea,” Shirokuto huffed. “Anyway, I’d better go, or I’m going to get yelled at.”

I just nodded.

“Nice meeting you, Shirokuto!” Fu said happily.

It was the brightest I’d see her since everything had happened; then again, I wasn’t exactly somebody who was good at cheering anybody up. I was a master of pissing them off and distracting them with anger, but it didn’t feel right to pull my normal crap on someone who had just had their family, friends, and home taken from them.

Huh, I guess _I_ knew what that was like after all.

“You too, Fu.” Shirokuto said bemused.

Shirokuto abruptly exploded into a wave of smoke that obscured the tree from sight, a shadow appeared in the smoke, and when the wind brushed the smoke to the side, they were revealed.

Karenbana looked much the same as when I had last seen her over a year ago; she was still remarkably short, definitely still under five feet, her eyes were still large, and pastel pink. The long hair was different though, falling in a spiky brown mess between her shoulders, not unlike the white wig she had used to wear, her clothing was different too, so at some point, she must have gotten new stuff to wear.

Karenbana still wore her white overcoat, but the pink battle dress was gone, replaced by a pale green shirt that went all the way to her thighs. One sleeve was long, all the way to her wrist, while the other was non-existent, stopping just after the shoulder, a stylistic choice of some sort, small tight shorts of the same pale color could just _barely_ be seen peeking out beneath it.

Karenbana was smiling brightly.

“Hey dumbass,” I said drily, “Did you leave one of your sleeves behind? Want to call Shirokuto back up to go find it?”

Karenbana’s smile immediately turned into anger.

“It _came_ like this,” Karenbana said angrily, “Idiot!”

“Wow, I hope you got a discount for the missing sleeve, at least,” I said easily, deliberately misunderstanding. “I could probably tear a sleeve off one of my old shirts if you want?”

Karenbana bared her teeth angrily for a moment.

“Hi, I’m Fu.” Fu said curiously, “Who are you?”

Karenbana turned to study her for a moment.

“Karenbana,” Karenbana said thoughtfully, “Are you the green-haired-girl?”

“Sora called me that once,” Fu said honestly.

“Are we taking her back to Takigakure then?” Karenbana asked curiously.

I stared at her for a long moment before finally speaking.

“They were early,” I said simply. “Takigakure is gone.”

It sounded a great deal less accusatory then telling her that she was late. Fu turned to stare up at the sky, while Karenbana just fell silent. I could already see her putting the pieces together, and she would definitely have more questions, but I had _finally_ decided what I was going to do.

I spun on my heel and headed for the Land of Fire.

“Where are we going?” Fu yelped at my sudden departure.

I could feel them both moving to follow.

“The Land of Fire,” I said cheerfully.

“You’re going the wrong way, idiot!” Karenbana said incredulously. “The Land of Fire is _that_ way.”

I corrected my course immediately.

“Just testing you, shitty bodyguard,” I said cheerfully.

“Wait for me!” Fu yelped.

“I can’t believe I actually missed you,” Karenbana muttered wryly.

* * *

The Land of Fire had a lot less fire in it, then the Land of Waterfalls did, but the temperature was definitely warmer here. Nowhere near as bad as the Land of Wind, if it were a bowl of porridge, it would be _just_ right.

But it _wasn’t_ a bowl of porridge; it was a country teeming with people _and_ Shinobi.

Crossing the border had been interesting; we had all changed from our current clothes into some of the spares I had stuffed into my inventory over a year ago. Fu had struggled into one of Karenbana’s tiny shirts, which was hilarious, while my own was far too large on either of them.

When we crossed the border, I had tried to lead us around the patrols while sticking to the ground like a civilian. It didn’t work out very well, and we were found by a patrol only a couple of hours into the journey. It was a squad of Konoha chunin, and they seemed rather happy to see that someone had made it out of Waterfall alive, taking us all for refugees.

They even set us up with an escort to take us towards Konoha after I told them I knew a few people there, some of which I only knew _of_. Apparently, everyone knew of Might Gai and his students, a lot of people knew about the Hokage apprentice Haruno Sakura, and I didn’t think that a single person in the land of fire hadn’t heard about Kakashi of the Sharingan.

I actually went a bit overboard and made sure to name every single Konoha shinobi that I had run into. Especially the ones who had ‘saved’ me in Land of Vegetables, the year prior, particularly Choji Akimichi, Hinata Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki. I’m not sure if it helped them decide on actually helping us out, or if they would have done it anyway.

It didn’t really matter anyway; the result was the same.

The trip to Konoha was probably the easiest traveling I’d done since I woke up here because we ended up on the back of a small cargo carriage headed for Konoha, that left from one of the border towns.

Our escort had a vaguely familiar name, but I honestly couldn’t place what he had done in the source material.

“Not too long now,” Hayase said pleasantly. “You should be able to see the walls of Konohagakure soon.”

“Awesome!” Fu said excitedly, “Hayase, what’s it like living in Konoha?”

Hayase scratched at the stubble on his chin for a moment.

Hayase was fairly young at nineteen, a chunin level ninja who said that he enjoyed helping to organize the exams whenever they came back to Konoha, he was friendly enough, and even if he wasn’t, Fu was friendly enough for two people despite the recent tragedies she was doing her best to keep up a brave face.

I still heard her cry herself to sleep every night in the back of the wagon.

Fu seemingly would try to make friends with _everyone_ she met, and it somehow came off as endearing rather than annoying. Karenbana and Fu had actually gotten along better then I had expected, probably because Karenbana had been starved for human contact for over a year, and Fu made a continuous effort to befriend her.

Karenbana flat out hadn’t believed that I had managed to kill both of the ninjas that had destroyed Takigakure. I had needed to take the bodies out of my inventory for a moment to prove it; I made sure to do it while Fu was asleep for obvious reasons.

The look on Karenbana’s face when she realized I had managed to do it somehow was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time. I made sure to give her shit about not needing a bodyguard that was weaker than me, and that had set off an instant fight to establish dominance, exactly like I thought it would, but without going lethal or spamming Jaunt, I got my ass kicked horribly.

I could almost pretend that I hadn’t spent an entires year all alone.

Oh, Hayase was right; you _could_ see the walls from here.

* * *

Hayase left us at the gate before heading straight into the village, presumably to report to the Hokage. The cargo was checked over quickly, and the owner was let in without much issue, but when it came to our turn, we weren’t as lucky.

A ninja with purple hair and a white pattern mask arrived partway throughout our long discussion with the chunin on gate duty. Definitely an Anbu of some kind, with a level in the low two-hundreds, they spoke with the guards privately for a moment before agreeing to allow us into the village, on the condition that we were escorted to see the Hokage first.

It was most likely because of Fu; they had literally just had the joint exams, in which she had participated publicly. If I remember correctly, a random ninja had tried to steal both Fu and Gaara’s tailed beasts, Konoha would be aware of who the Taki Jinchuriki is now if they hadn’t been already.

It wasn’t surprising that when Land of Waterfalls was burning and the Jinchuriki had arrived in Konoha, we would be met with some caution.

“Sure,” I said cheerfully, “Think you can show us where a hotel is afterward? We are going to need somewhere to stay while we’re here.”

The masked ninja simply nodded in answer before leading us into the village.

It was interesting being in such an iconic place; the buildings were patchwork but strong, circular, and multi-floored; the outer wall towered over the city, with only the enormous monument being taller. The Hokage tower stood out easily, with its strange circular design and white stone top.

The number of chakra presences in the village was staggering, and the high chakra of the ninja population was both terrifying and amazing; being surrounded by so many powerful people was quite daunting. I could also feel the massive chakra signature that could have only been the Hokage, and beside her was two other much smaller, but still powerful signatures.

The ANBU led us into the building, up to several flights of stairs before stopping in front of the door to the office, before slipping inside for a moment. Karenbana, Fu, and I all stayed out in the hall until she returned.

“Hokage-sama will see you now.” The ANBU said evenly.

I couldn’t help but noticed that the ANBU stayed by the door to stand guard. I also couldn’t help but noticed just how god damned _young_ the Hokage looked. That genjutsu of hers was putting in _work_ goddammit, she didn’t even look like she had hit _thirty_ yet. It certainly didn’t help that she was _super model-tier_ attractive as well.

Wasn’t she like _fifty_ or something? I probably shouldn’t ask her that one, so I observed her instead.

* * *

Name: Tsunade Senju  
Title: Hokage, Sanin  
Gender: Female  
Age: 68(54)  
Level: 365  
Next Level: 12.32%  
Health Points – 3000/3000  
Chakra Points - 6000/6000  
Vitality 300  
Strength 300  
Speed 350  
Perception 125  
Intelligence 150  
Chakra 600  
Status Effects: Accelerated Aging.  
Emotions: Curiosity, Suspicion.  
  
History: Tsunade Senju is the Hokage of Konohagakure; she was born in the Land of Fire and is a descendant of the Senju and Uzumaki Clans; she is also one of the three Sannin, known as the world's strongest kunoichi and its greatest medical ninja.

* * *

Accelerated aging? It wasn’t something I would have expected to be considered a status effect. Was it because it was inflicted by her technique and not a natural process?  
  
“Welcome to Konohagakure.” Tsunade said pleasantly, “What brings you to our village?”  
  
The two with her were obviously Sakura and Shizune, but I didn’t have the time to observe them.  
  
“You!” Sakura yelped, staring at Karenbana.  
  
I ignored her.  
  
“I’ve come to teach you how to heal people properly,” I said immediately. “Sakura told me you needed the help.”  
  
Karenbana turned to stare at me with wide eyes, her face already going red at my complete inability to interact like a normal human being. Sakura was also bright red, but probably from embarrassment, given what I had said.  
  
Shizune just looked surprised in general.  
  
“I see,” Tsunade said, amused, “You would be the ninja she spoke of, from the Land of the Moon?”  
  
I grinned; she _had_ heard of me; I was a god damned famous person, after all. Sakura looked like she was about to interject, so I spoke up quickly.  
  
“Yep, my name is Sora,” I confirmed, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Tsunade. _This_ is Fu, the Jinchuriki of the Seven Tailed Beast, and _this_ is Karenbana, one of the ninjas that tried to gank Kakashi’s squad back at Kakeru’s place; she was _so_ embarrassed to have gotten her ass kicked by a pink Genin that I took pity on her and let her be my bodyguard, but she is honestly _so_ terrible at it, I’ve been thinking of replacing her with someone better, do you have any recommendations?”  
  
Karenbana made a strangled noise in the back of her throat that was barely audible but carried with it her intent to beat the absolute shit out of me the second we were out of the office. Fu just looked like she couldn’t believe what I was saying to the Hokage.  
  
Sakura opened her mouth to try and interject again, but I immediately continued.  
  
“Another time then, _anyway_ ,” I said cheerfully, “Hidan and Kakuzu, two guys from Akatsuki, that’s the organization that’s running around stealing all the tailed beasts if you didn’t already know, turned up in Takigakure and pretty much set the country on fire while trying to capture Fu here.”  
  
Tsunade just stared at me.  
  
“We are pretty much just passing through here, there’s a couple of things I want to track down in the area, but I thought we could stop in, use it as a stopping point for a few months and say hello to Naruto,” I smiled pleasantly, “Say, is he back from his training trip yet?”  
  
“Naruto won’t be back for another five months,” Sakura said weakly.  
  
I hummed thoughtfully; five months was a decent amount of time, long enough to get some serious training in. I also wanted to drop by the Land of Waves to yoink Zabuza’s old sword; if it were still there, that would take a month, maybe?  
  
Then a quick trip to the land of rivers and back here, before we would be set to head off towards Sunagakure.  
  
“Kakuzu, the missing-nin from Takigakure? The one who tried to kill my grandfather?” Tsunade said seriously, “How is he still alive after all this time?”  
  
“He’s not,” I said, amused. “I killed him.”  
  
“How was he still alive _before_ you killed him?” Sakura tried to clarify.  
  
“He and his partner had this immortality thing going on. It was _super_ interesting from a medical standpoint; you would have loved it.” I gestured vaguely, “You had to be there, I guess.”  
  
Sakura just looked annoyed at the answer.  
  
“Konoha has been looking for information about Akatsuki for several years,” Tsunade said evenly.  
  
Tsunade leaned forward and steepled her hands in front of her mouth; she was clearly testing the waters to see if I would be willing to tell them what I know, I could work with that.  
  
“In return for my _incredibly_ generous offer of telling you all about the Akatsuki and their weaknesses,” I said thoughtfully.  
  
I tried my best not to look down her top and immediately failed; I really had zero self-control.  
  
“I’ll need Might Gai or Sarutobi Asuma or Hatake Kakashi, or uh, Kurenai? To train my two apprentices here in the art of not being terrible ninjas,” I said cheerfully. “For like two or three months anyway, they both suck, _especially_ Karenbana.”  
  
“Hey!” Fu yelped indignantly.  
  
“I fucking swear as soon-” Karenbana started angrily, but I cut her off.  
  
“We also want free food and somewhere to stay while in Konoha for the period that they are trying their best not to be terrible failures,” I said happily.  
  
Tsunade stared at me for a long moment, as if waiting to see if I continued.  
  
“How’s that sound, Tsunade?” I said pleasantly. “Pretty good deal, huh?”  
  
Wait, I knew how to sweeten the deal.  
  
“I’ll also bet you a thousand moon dollars that I can fix a single person of your choice that you haven’t been able to heal.” I grinned.  
  
Tsunade twitched, and Shizune looked at her mentor in resignation.  
  
“I agree to your terms, _Sora_ ,” Tsunade said evenly. “Now, please stop looking down my shirt.”  
  
“I’m fucking _trying_ , dammit,” I said honestly.  
  
“Sora-kun!” Sakura said, outraged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 37  
> Health Points - 2680/2680  
> Mana Points - 6744/6744  
> Vitality 268 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 303 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 561 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 104 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 47 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 583 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 7 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 112 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 120.5 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 104.5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 107.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 666  
> Perception Rating - 104  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.
> 
> Money (moon dollars) - $4,668.
> 
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)  
> Stealth – (None)


	21. Dreaming of Wave

“In the interest of seeing whether or not you actually have any worthwhile information,” Tsunade said evenly, “I would like to ask you some questions immediately.”  
  
I hummed thoughtfully.  
  
“Neither of my precious students has eaten in a while,” I said easily, “I’ll answer three questions for now.”  
  
“Sora-sensei!” Fu cheered.  
  
“I am _not_ your student,” Karenbana said, annoyed.  
  
“Then why do I school you in every single fight we have ever had _ever_?” I said immediately. “Idiot.”  
  
Karenbana gaped at me in disbelief.  
  
“Three questions then,” Tsunade cut in levelly before we could get further distracted.  
  
I just nodded.  
  
“What are the identities of all the members of Akatsuki that you are aware of?” Tsunade said evenly.  
  
A decently worded question, she was clearly trying to maximize the gain from each.  
  
“Kakuzu and Hidan,” I said easily, “Deidara and Sasori. Itachi and Kisame. Nagato and Konan. Obito Uchiha. Oh, and Orochimaru _used_ to be a member, but he quit after Itachi kicked his ass.”  
  
Tsunade looked alarmed.  
  
“You probably knew some of them already, though,” I said thoughtfully, “There were a couple of guys that were in it before that but were killed. I don’t know their names though; one was another of the mist sword guys.”  
  
“Where are they working out of?” Tsunade said intently.  
  
“Amegakure,” I said easily, “I would suggest you not send anyone there anytime soon.”  
  
Tsunade was quiet for a long moment as she considered the bait I had left before her.  
  
“Why?” Tsunade finally said.  
  
“That’s your third question,” I said easily, “Nagato has a technique that makes it permanently rain there, and he can sense _anybody_ who is touched by even a single drop; there are probably multiple other sensor ninjas there as well.”  
  
Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the answer.  
  
“I’ll give you this one for free,” I said slowly, “Being detected trying to covertly enter the village is why you shouldn’t try and _sneak_ in there, but the reason why it’s a really bad idea to go there at all? Nagato is a _motherfucker_ to deal with.”  
  
Tsunade just stared at me; doing the silence makes people keep on rambling technique, but I wasn’t quite finished yet anyway, so I let her have this one as well.  
  
“You’re probably thinking to yourself, hey, he can’t be _that_ bad, maybe I’ll send Jiraiya in to take a look.” I said cheerfully, “So I’ll just tell you this, Nagato could probably fight every single member of the Akatsuki at once and win, if you don’t believe me, you should probably just ask Danzo, I think he fought him once, or something.”  
  
“How do you know all of this?” Tsunade demanded.  
  
I just grinned at her.  
  
“If you want to know _that_ ,” I said cheerfully, “You’ll have to buy me a drink first.”  
  
I spun on my foot and then immediately stopped in the doorway; I could feel Karenbana and Fu move to follow me.  
  
“I was going to do the cool exit thing,” I said sheepishly, “But I realize I have no idea where anything in this city is. Can someone take me to a restaurant? I’m super hungry.”  
  
“Sakura,” Tsunade said dryly.  
  
“Yes, Tsunade-sensei,” Sakura said strained, before heading towards us.  
  
Sakura stepped around us and then out of the room before waiting for us to follow.  
  
“Don’t forget our bet!” I said cheerfully.  
  
I stepped out into the hall and then followed Sakura.  
  
“You are worse then I remember,” Sakura muttered.  
  
“He gets worse every day,” Karenbana said honestly.  
  
“He’s not that bad!” Fu said happily.  
  
“That’s why you’re my favorite apprentice,” I said honestly.  
  
“Yay!” Fu cheered.  
  
Karenbana huffed.

* * *

Sakura took us to the ramen place from the show, and it was pretty damn good, all things considered. She also told us what she had been doing since we had last met, namely becoming a medic-nin. I found it remarkably funny that Karenbana actually seemed to get along with Sakura, despite their past history.

“Why do you keep laughing?” Karenbana said suspiciously.

I ducked my head down and slurped noisily at my noodles, far too busy to explain myself.

“Sakura,” I said curiously, “Who do you think will agree to train these two?”

Sakura swallowed the noodles in her mouth before answering.

“Um.” Sakura said hesitantly, “Gai will probably agree?”

I stared at her dryly, one of four? Seriously.

“That’s Lee’s teacher? Fu in green spandex would be a thing to see.” I said, amused.

“Spandex?” Fu said curiously.

Sakura fought down a smile.

“Karenbana here is rather good with all that genjutsu nonsense,” I said idly, “Do you think Kurenai would be down to teach her something?”

I could feel Karenbana staring at the side of my head.

“I’m really not sure, sorry,” Sakura said honestly.

I waved her off.

I could feel several strong presences in the Hokage’s office, and they had been there for a while now. One was definitely Kakashi; it felt as distinctive as it had back in Moon, only it was a considerable size larger and denser; he had clearly been training a lot since then.

The others were harder to guess at, other than their chakra ranged from lower Jonin to almost as large as Tsunade’s.

Obviously, I could feel the team Tsunade had sent to follow us around the village. Jounin’s, all of them, probably ANBU because I could feel that same purple-haired one that had led us up to the tower. They were still there even hours later when Sakura had taken us to a hotel with a room already purchased and ready to go.

Sakura bid us farewell, with the promise to meet up again soon, seemingly leaving us alone in the room. If not for the ANBU team that I could still feel spreading throughout the building. I would almost have thought we were alone.

“Don’t say anything you don’t want the six ANBU who are watching us to hear,” I said easily and flopped down onto one of the two queen-sized beds. “This is my bed, you too can mud wrestle for the other one, but only if I’m allowed to spectate.”

“We can wrestle _or_ share!” Fu said happily. “I don’t mind, Karenbana-senpai!”

Karenbana sat heavily at the end of the other bed.

“Please don’t feed into his delusions, Fu.” Karenbana said, resignedly, “He’s bad enough without the support.”

I just laughed.

“Well, this went rather well, don’t you think?” I said; happily, the bed was soft and much better than that shitty wagon we had spent weeks on the back of.

“When were you going to tell me about this training thing?” Karenbana said intently, declaring herself as an enemy.

“Yeah!” Fu said curiously, throwing her support in.

Such betrayal.

“I wasn’t,” I yawned, “You would have been all snooty about it, ‘My names _Karenbana_ , and I don’t _need_ training because I’m _SOOO_ strong!’”

“I will come over there, and you will _not_ like what I do to you,” Karenbana said dangerously, “ANBU team or not.”

I had a once in a lifetime chance to impress a bunch of battle-hardened special operatives, and I couldn’t let this little spitfire ruin it for me.

“Oh, _Karenbana_!” I moaned loudly, “You’re _so_ good at that! _Don’t stop_!”

“ _Shut up!_ ” Karenbana yelped, before crossing the room in an instant to rain blows down on me.

“You’re being too rough, Karenbana!” Fu gasped out, “Do it _slowly_!”

“ _Don’t encourage him_!” Karenbana cried embarrassedly.

Despite the painfully precise punches, I couldn’t help feeling proud of myself, because one of the chakra signatures was twitching oddly, almost as if they were laughing.

* * *

“Day three of being stuck in Konoha,” I said plainly, “The days are long, boring, and I’m beginning to see enormous faces growing out of the mountain, possibly something in the water.”

The person on the other side of the door still didn’t move.

“I was supposed to leave yesterday, and if the person on the other side of the door doesn’t get their ass in here so we can get this over with, they are going to have to wait until I get back from my trip.” I continued in the same bored tone.

The door opened and revealed Tsunade standing on the other side; she didn’t enter the waiting room; instead, she held the door open expectantly.

“You almost make it sound like torture,” Tsunade said, amused.

I sprung up out of the chair and strode towards the door.

“Spending time with you could _never_ be torture, Tsunade,” I said cheerfully and stepped over the threshold. “Unless you were actually torturing me, then it would totally be torture, you know?”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Tsunade said dryly, and I grinned.

Tsunade led me through the building.

“I’m still hoping for that drink, to be honest,” I said easily. “Just think, you, me, a night filled with passion and regret, how could anyone say no?”

Tsunade shook her head, amused.

“You would need a lot more than just information for me to consider _that_ ,” Tsunade smirked.

Ouch, she was completely without mercy.

“How about Kakuzu’s body, Kekai Genkai, included?” I said cheekily, “That’s got to be worth a one-night stand, at least.”

“Did you just offer me a _dead body_ in exchange for sex?” Tsunade said incredulously.

“That depends on whether it worked or not,” I said seriously.

“Has it _ever_ worked before?” Tsunade said strangely.

“This is the _first_ time it’s worked,” I said confidently.

Tsunade stared at me for a long moment.

“I am twice your age,” Tsunade said, bemused.

I shrugged.

“You’re pretty, I’m prettier,” I said easily, “Who cares?”

“You’re almost like a younger Jiraiya,” Tsunade said honestly.

“Don’t be _ridiculous_ , Tsunade,” I said strangely, “Jiraiya never got to have _three_ consecutive one-night stands with you.”

Tsunade snorted before opening the door and stepping over the threshold; I followed her inside to find a girl standing next to the window with her back turned to us. The room was pretty much like every other room in the hospital, white floors, white walls, white ceiling. A small bed that was recently used judging by the messy blankets, a bedside table, and there was even a small bathroom.

“Yakumo-san.” Tsunade said pleasantly, “How are you feeling today?”

Yakumo turned around and smiled.

“Tsunade-sama,” Yakumo said kindly, “Today is a good day, thank you for asking.”

Yakumo, Yakumo, Yakumo.

Why did that name sound familiar? The girl's face jogged absolutely no memories whatsoever; she was plain, had kind of gaunt cheeks, perhaps slightly underweight, with longish brown hair.

I observed her.

* * *

Name: Yakumo Kurama  
Title: Kurama Clan Head  
Gender: Female  
Age: 16  
Level: 50  
Next Level: 19.82%  
Health Points - 250/250  
Chakra Points - 5000/5000  
Vitality 25  
Strength 25  
Speed 25  
Perception 85  
Intelligence 90  
Chakra 500  
Status Effects: Weak Body, Chakra Personality Manifestation.  
Emotions: Guilt, Sadness, Regret.  
  
History: Yakumo Kurama is the last surviving member of the main branch of the Kurama clan, and, as such, the heiress to the clan. Yakumo was born with an exceptionally weak body, and the powerful bloodline trait of her clan, resulting in her immense talent in Genjutsu as a result.

* * *

Genjutsu talent, wasn’t there an episode about this girl? Something to do with a demon and paintings? I couldn’t actually remember any of the details. Her last name was Kurama, wasn’t that the name of the nine-tails? Nine-tailed foxes in mythology had a lot to do with illusions as well.  
  
Was that some kind of twisted reference?  
  
“Yakumo-san,” Tsunade said easily, “This is Sora-san, Kurenai should have mentioned him?”  
  
I gave her a smile and a small wave.  
  
“Yes, of course,” Yakumo said kindly, “You think you may be able to help me.”  
  
I had no idea, but we would see what happened.  
  
“Sure,” I said cheerfully, “Why don’t you get comfortable, and I’ll see what I can do?”  
  
Tsunade helped the girl get back into the bed and pulled her sheets up to cover her legs. I grabbed the chair that was in the corner of the room and dragged it over. The chair screeched along the floor as I made no effort to lift it up, and Tsunade stared at me with raised eyebrows.  
  
I just smirked as I placed the chair down next to Yakumo’s bed before flopping into it.  
  
“Right,” I said cheerfully, I pretended to glance over her. “Let’s see, Weak Body, Chakra Personality Manifestation, I see why Tsunade couldn’t do anything about this, it’s the old ways, you know? Not as versatile as my custom work, let’s see what we can do here, give me your hand, go on, don’t be shy. A little bit of light, don’t get jumpy.”  
  
I could feel Tsunade burning twin holes in the side of my head as I rattled off the information she had yet to give me; I had to fight to keep from laughing at the feeling.  
  
I did some quick math, six-thousand-seven-hundred-mana, ninety-five Mana per cast, something like sixty casts? Seventy? Something like that, twelve durability per stack, that was uh, eight-hundred durability damage to the status with each max mana cast? The petrification way back then had uh, five-thousand durability? Maybe? Let’s call weak body at twice that durability, I honestly doubted it was that strong, but I wanted to give myself an estimate to reach for.  
  
Ten-thousand durability, twelve casts should clear at least _one_ of these things.  
  
I put all of my Mana into a Status Removal and cast a spell on Yakumo. My Mana disappeared in an instant, and I grunted at the sudden loss, immediately having to dive into Meditation for the bonus recovery, I checked Observe, but they both still remained. Yakumo drew in a sharp breath of air as the spell took effect, and she stared down at her hand strangely.

* * *

Status Removal has increased by 3.

* * *

“How are you feeling?” Tsunade said intently, “Any change to your vision? Or you hearing?”  
  
“I feel better?” Yakumo said unsurely, “My body feels slightly more responsive, I think?”  
  
Tsunade continued to ask questions and started noting down any notable changes and the time between each. With the combined effect of my natural mana recovery rate and the massive boost from Meditate, I was back to full Mana in around thirty seconds. I immediately full cast again and checked the window once more, no change.

* * *

Status Removal has increased by 1.

* * *

I idly listened to the two talking quietly, and neither of them made any attempt to engage me in conversation; Yakumo was probably uncomfortable with a stranger being next to her, and Tsunade probably thought I was trying to concentrate or something. I dumped all my Mana into another full cast, still nothing.

* * *

Status Removal has increased by 1.  
Status Removal has increased by 1.  
Status Removal has increased by 1.  
Status Removal has increased by 1.

* * *

Four full casts later, ‘Weak Body’ vanished, and I smiled but continued, making no mention to either of them. Yakumo was looking much healthier already, at least in her face; it had been somewhat pale and gaunt when I first saw her, but it was a darker shade of off pink now and seemed softer somehow.

* * *

Status Removal has increased by 1.  
Status Removal has increased by 1.  
Status Removal has increased by 1.  
Status Removal has increased by 1.

* * *

The levels were coming slower now, once every two casts, but the increase in durability damage was adding up, and the next time I cast, ‘Chakra Personality Manifestation’ vanished from her observe window.  
  
I stood up abruptly, and Tsunade actually took a step back at the sudden movement. I clapped my hands, brushed them off like they were dusty, and then smiled down at the girl.  
  
“Your body is as normal as anyone else’s now, no more weakness to worry about, shouldn’t have any more issues on that front, go be a ninja or whatever you young whippersnappers are want to do,” I said easily, “The Chakra Personality Manifestation has also been eradicated, it’s _possible_ that it may return, so I would like you to report anything that might point towards a reemergence, seeing things, hearing things all that jazz, and Tsunade will be able to send someone to find me, okay?”  
  
Yakumo just kind of stared, and I nodded once before turning to Tsunade, who was staring at me with narrowed eyes.  
  
“I’m late for my trip now, _totally_ your fault, by the way,” I complained, “I’ll probably be back in, uh, how far away is Wave from here, for a ninja?”  
  
“A week either way,” Tsunade said slowly.  
  
“Also!” I said suddenly, “Which way is it?”  
  
Tsunade stared at me, seemingly unable to comprehend the being known only as Sora before she pointed.  
  
“I’ll see you in a couple of weeks then, Tsunade,” I said cheerfully. “If you see Karenbana make sure to tell her that having to guard _myself_ on this trip makes her the _shittiest_ bodyguard in the _entire_ world!”  
  
Tsunade didn’t reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 37  
> Health Points - 2680/2680  
> Mana Points - 6744/6744  
> Vitality 268 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 303 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 561 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 104 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 47 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 583 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 7 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 112 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 120.5 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 104.5 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 107.25 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 666  
> Perception Rating - 104  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.
> 
> Money (moon dollars) - $4,668.
> 
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)  
> Stealth – (None)


	22. Dreaming of Cleaver

I didn’t actually tell anyone other than Tsunade that I was leaving. I thought it would be funnier if Karenbana realized I had ditched them for a couple of weeks. Fu might be a bit upset for a little while, but Lee and Gai would hopefully keep them both busy.  
  
I didn’t want to spend too much time out on my own, but I needed them both to be strong enough to fight the baddies, so I sprinted pretty much the entire time.  
  
I kept looking around and hoping to spot something that might indicate where Team Seven had fought those twin mist dudes, the ones with that chain thing. Like a hole in the road or a pile of timber, shuriken stuck in a tree maybe.  
  
It was stupid; that fight had happened years ago in this world if it had happened at all.  
  
I wondered if I had woken up before the Zabuza mission, perhaps on the bridge or something, would I have been able to stop them from being killed? Recruited them somehow? I would probably have just died.  
  
I wouldn’t have been ready to be in a fight of that level, and I would have been noticed by the ninja long before I had grown even remotely strong enough to protect myself. I suppose waking up in the Land of the Moon had been a boon in that regard, given the slow nature of my skills.  
  
Speaking of skills, I had finally gotten around to creating that sound reduction Spell I had cursed not having at Takigakure.

* * *

You have unlocked a new skill, Muffle.  
  
Muffle (Level 1) – Reduces unwanted noise emission.  
Type – Toggle  
Target – Self.  
Cost – Reserves 1 (25) Mana per second.

  * Increases the effectiveness of the higher the level.



* * *

An incredible simple but also useful skill that would have made that fight _so_ much safer.  
  
It was a weird spell too because it only seemed to stop sounds that I made by accident, or without intending to. If I said something, it would come through perfectly fine, and if I tried to snap a twig to make noise, it would let me, but I could feel twigs snap beneath my feet every other step in this forest, and barely any sound was coming from it.  
  
Somehow it seemed to work via intention.  
  
The terrain changed the closer I got to the coast, it was still warm, but the humidity was getting jacked up from all the water in the air. The early mornings began to bring a faint mist with it, nothing as foreboding as the thick mist that Zabuza had used in the anime, just a transparent layer of water in the air.  
  
When did Zabuza get his sword anyway?  
  
I remember that guy from Akatsuki having it at some point, Itachi’s old partner. He was killed by uh, whatever that Jinchuriki was called, the turtle guy. He’d had the sword on him _then_ , so when did Zabuza get it? I guess the turtle guy had taken it back to the village, given it to him, or given it to someone who had passed it to Zabuza.  
  
Sometime after, Itachi had killed his clan, but before the wave mission.  
  
Zabuza must have had several years to become a master of the sword, although he was some kind of genius in killing or something, I vaguely remembered he had killed his classmates during an exam of some sort? Perhaps he had been the type of genius who had simply picked it up and mastered it within months, like that other swordsman, well the _swordswoman_.  
  
The chick that had the twin lighting swords before that funeral guy.  
  
Rin? Ringo? Something like that, I remembered reading about how she had mastered her weapon really quickly or something, so I could see Zabuza doing something similar. Which meant that he had it for what, a maximum of five years? Probably less.  
  
My own ‘Blade Mastery’ skill should carry over to it unless it fell under a ‘Greatsword Mastery’ or something like it. Which would suck, but either way, I didn’t need _two_ legendary swords; the goal here wasn’t for me to go into battle wielding a bunch of swords as Killer B did, although I _really_ wanted to see how that kind of swordplay worked in a real-world scenario.  
  
I was intending on giving the giant ass sword to Fu.  
  
Karenbana was a stealth fighter, well a stealth fighter with Sage Mode now anyway, but Fu was something of a flying brick, I mean, she had these silly-looking wings and everything, she has also had a remarkable level of strength for her level, her stats clearly favored it for whatever reason.  
  
So she would get the most out of the giant sword within our little group. I had something different in mind for Karenbana anyway. I would be going to get that next, so she shouldn’t be too salty over having to wait a month or so. She got that summon anyway.  
  
The bridge was enormous, ludicrously so, it looked like something out of the old world, the one with the cars and the guns. It was actually amazing to look at it and think that something of this craftsmanship level was possible while they were under constant attack by mercenaries and ninja.  
  
Hell, I can’t imagine a bridge being completed in the old world under those conditions.  
  
I turned around to face back towards Konoha and then turned left. I kept on walking until I felt a chakra signature light up within my range, and it hadn’t taken that long. The sword was still where they had left it, as the headstone for their graves. Suigetsu hadn’t been here yet, because the sword was here, and Kabuto hadn’t been here because the bodies were still undisturbed.  
  
“Sorry for stealing your grave marker,” I said honestly, “You guys were really cool, just a couple of bros running around and tearing it up together, I would have liked to meet you both, at least once.”

* * *

Kubikiribōchō (Legendary)

  * Extremely sharp, and cuts through most things.
  * Capable of channeling chakra.
  * Regenerates from any damage by absorbing iron.



* * *

I inventoried the blade and then left without another word.

* * *

I wondered how mad Kakashi, Naruto, or Sakura would be when they saw the sword.  
  
Sasuke was the one who told Suigetsu where it was right? They would both probably be pissed off when they found it missing; it might have some unknown effect on their actions as well. Suigetsu might not stay with them, or they might go after one of the other swordsmen.  
  
Well, I had _tw_ o legendary swords now.  
  
When I was thinking about what would fit either of them, I had at first struggled with Karenbana. That needle sword had been my first thought, it looked pretty cool, but the sewing people together thing was just nonsense.  
  
Kisame’s sword wouldn’t like anyone without ‘tasty’ chakra, that sounded more up Fu’s alley then Karenbana’s anyway. The others I remembered had been the explosive note sword, the blue-haired-guys transforming weapon, and the two lighting swords.  
  
I had thought of Kusanagi and immediately decided I wasn’t going to fuck with Orochimaru yet.  
  
Those twin blades ended up being the ones I had decided on; they were supposed to be super sharp, probably good to use from Stealth as well, as long as you held back on the lightning attacks and just used them as melee weapons. They could also be stuck handle-to-handle into a double-bladed sword thing.  
  
That guy was near that curry shop, in the Land of Rivers? There was a mining town or something, as well, a gold mine?  
  
What had happened to the swords, though? I could remember the guy falling off a cliff and being annihilated by lighting. Did the leaf ninja take his swords? No, Kabuto had them somehow when he revived all the swordsman, so Kabuto found them at some point.  
  
I would have to check near where he died; I should be able to feel the chakra in the blades if they were still there somewhere. I had some money leftover. I was already getting sick of traveling on my own. I might hire a ninja to take me there. I would take the others, but I didn’t want to interrupt their training.  
  
Either way, if Kabuto had already stolen them, we could just hunt him down to deal with him earlier, and hopefully, we could catch him while he was away from Orochimaru. He would still be somewhere near wherever the hell the Land of Sound was, probably, which was daunting.  
  
My trip back to Konoha was pretty leisurely. I spent most of the time getting in extra training along the way. When I was about halfway home, I ran into an ‘ANBU Escort’ that I definitely didn’t ask for. They brought me back to Konoha and straight back to the Hokage tower.  
  
It’s almost like they didn’t trust me, the _audacity_ of these people.  
  


* * *

  
“Tsunade!” I said cheerfully as I stepped into the office without waiting. “Why are you wasting ANBU level ninja playing messengers? I am truly shooketh by this turn of events.”  
  
Sakura looked outraged at my complete disrespect, but Tsunade just smirked.  
  
“You left in a hurry, and our deal is not yet concluded.” Tsunade said intently, “What did you do in Wave Country?”  
  
“I had to go water my plants, but get this, I found this Momochi Zabuza guy’s sword just lying around in the forest!” I said cheerfully.  
  
“What?!” Sakura said incredulously.  
  
“Yeah, some _dumbass_ just left this priceless sword near that big ass bridge,” I said easily, “Oh well, finders keepers, you know?”  
  
Sakura struggled to find the words.  
  
“Where is it _now_?” Sakura finally managed.  
  
I blinked before looking down at myself, quickly patting all of my pockets, and then looking alarmed.  
  
“I must have lost it along the way!” I cried, “How unfortunate!”  
  
Sakura’s face was going red.  
  
“You ran all the way to Wave to water your plants?” Tsunade said dryly. “You could at least _try_ to make up something believable.”  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“My business isn’t really any of Konoha’s business,” I said easily. “Only the business that I _have_ with Konoha is Konoha’s business, you know?”  
  
Sakura blew out a frustrated breath at the ludicrous statement.  
  
“Anyway, how long has it been?” I said thoughtfully, “Three weeks? How’s that girl I fixed?”  
  
“Four and a half weeks,” Tsunade corrected, “Yakumo-san is doing well, and there are no signs of it returning either.”  
  
Huh, I lost track of time training.  
  
“Cool,” I said easily, “I was actually in the middle of planning out another short trip, but I could use an escort this time, I have no idea what the place looks like.”  
  
The giant bridge had been an easy landmark to locate, but all I knew about the Land of Rivers was that there was a gold mine somewhere in the country.  
  
“I would like to have another discussion with you about Akatsuki before you leave,” Tsunade said seriously.  
  
“Sure,” I said easily, “by the way, you still owe me a thousand moon dollars.”  
  
Tsunade twitched at the reminder.  
  
“I haven’t forgotten,” Tsunade said cagily, “Akatsuki?”  
  
I just nodded.  
  
“You want these two here for this? There’s some sensitive information that I’m fairly sure will come up.” I said honestly.  
  
Tsunade hummed thoughtfully.  
  
“Make sure we are not disturbed,” Tsunade said easily.  
  
Shizune started towards the door immediately, but Sakura hesitated for a moment.  
  
“Get out of here, Pinkie!” I said, outraged, “I can’t _believe_ you would disrespect _the_ Hokage-sama-san-chan-kun-whatever other nonsense you all say, _unbelievable_ , you’d _never_ catch me showing such _blatant_ disrespect to my girl Tsunade here.”  
  
Sakura stared at me in complete disbelief, and I gave her a shit-eating grin.  
  
“Sakura,” Tsunade said, amused.  
  
Sakura stomped out of the room, cheeks red, and the door slammed behind her.  
  
“You’re either brave or stupid,” Tsunade said wryly, “I haven’t figured out which yet.”  
  
“It’s a combination of both,” I said confidently. “and it’s why you like me so much.”  
  
Tsunade snorted.  
  
“Hey,” I said suddenly, “About that escort?”  
  
Tsunade tilted her head.  
  
“Well, less of an escort, more of a guide really, I’m not planning on any fighting, although it's possible a bandit might gank me,” I said honestly. “Any single ninja will be sufficient, as long as they have been to the Land of Rivers before, and know the area, I’d like to set out tomorrow at the latest.”  
  
Tsunade looked interested in a moment before shaking her head.  
  
“A decent attempt at distracting me,” Tsunade said, amused, “You’ll be paying for the mission cost, but that shouldn’t be an issue.”  
  
I pouted, no free missions for me then.  
  
“Alright,” I clapped my hands, “Onto business!”  
  
Tsunade leaned forward eagerly.  
  
“The first thing you need to know is they have probably already caught at least one of the Jinchuriki.” I said honestly, “The Steam guy.”  
  
“Han of Iwagakure,” Tsunade said seriously.  
  
“Yeah! That’s his name,” I blinked, “I’d forgotten what it was, honestly.”  
  
“There has been no news of his disappearance,” Tsunade said evenly.  
  
“If you lost one of your two Jinchuriki and didn’t manage to recover the tailed beast after they were taken,” I said wryly, “Would you got tell your _best_ friend Konoha about it?”  
  
Tsunade snorted again; clearly, she had been spending too much time with that little pig that Shizune had been carrying.  
  
“I suppose not,” Tsunade conceded, “Who was sent after him?”  
  
Damn.  
  
“I’m not sure who got sent after Han,” I said honestly, “My best guess was Deidara and Sasori.”  
  
“Because he is from Iwa?” Tsunade said calmly, correctly guessing my thought process.  
  
“Yeah,” I said easily.  
  
“I suppose Roshi was next?” Tsunade wondered.  
  
Roshi?  
  
“Uh,” I said eloquently, “Is that the lava guy?”  
  
Tsunade just nodded.  
  
“No,” I said honestly, “The next was Fu.”  
  
Tsunade fell silent for a moment, in thought.  
  
“Hidan and Kakuzu went after her,” I said easily.  
  
Tsunade nodded, already aware of the situation.  
  
“Guess the next one,” I said cheekily.  
  
Tsunade rolled her eyes before glancing away in thought.  
  
“The six tailed Jinchuriki,” Tsunade said finally.  
  
Utakata, I actually remembered that guy’s name, the tailed beast was the giant acid thing? A slug? Oh!  
  
“Were you interested in Utakata because you can summon slugs?” I asked curiously. “Aww, that’s _adorable_.”  
  
Tsunade twitched.  
  
“Nope, not that guy, he’s actually the only one that I don’t know _when_ he gets attacked,” I said pleasantly. “The next is Gaara of the Sand, three guesses who’s going to Sunagakure to get him?”  
  
“Sasori of the Red Sand,” Tsunade said dryly.  
  
“Along with Deidara,” I agreed, “Unless they find out that we know their plans now and change it up.”  
  
Tsunade considered that for a long moment.  
  
“You claim to have killed two of their members already,” Tsunade said seriously, “They might have changed this supposed plan already.”  
  
Well, she was right, but I had already kind of thought of that, so I could guess broadly at what they might do instead.  
  
“You’re right,” I admitted easily, “Take the order of attacks as a guide that is possibly very wrong.”  
  
“How do you _know_ this?” Tsunade said pointedly.  
  
I ignored her entirely.  
  
“The next after that was _supposed_ to be the two-tails-chick from Kumo.” I said easily, “It might still be, but it won’t be Kakuzu and Hidan that do it now.”  
  
“Were you a member of Akatsuki?” Tsunade asked intently.  
  
“Nope,” I said breezily, “The three-tails turtle guy was next, but I’m fairly sure the Jinchuriki is already dead.”  
  
Tsunade leaned back in her chair, annoyed at my evasiveness.  
  
“Yagura Karatachi,” Tsunade said slowly. “The Forth Mizukage.”  
  
Sounded about right.  
  
“Obito Uchiha and Deidara go after that one,” I said thoughtfully. “Somewhere in a giant lake?”  
  
There _was_ a prior attempt on the three tails before that, from Kabuto, and the pink crystal chick, they weren’t Akatsuki though. Tsunade’s interest was seemingly peaked by the name.  
  
“Kakashi’s dead teammate,” Tsunade said intently.  
  
“Yep,” I said easily. “Kisame and Itachi go after, uh, Roshi-”  
  
“Stop,” Tsunade said abruptly, “How is it that Obito Uchiha is still alive?  
  
I groaned; this was going to open a can of worms, I was sure.  
  
“This has a _very long_ answer that is going to take us _hours_ to cover.” I said honestly, “You sure you don’t want to keep it for next time? You should probably bring Kakashi in on it as well.”  
  
“Give me the short version for now,” Tsunade said evenly.  
  
I sighed before doing my best to summarise.  
  
“Obito Uchiha was saved by a guy called Zetsu, on behalf of Madara Uchiha, who was at the time still alive but close to death.” I said simply, “Zetsu is some weird plant thing that can shapeshift or some nonsense, create duplicates and move through walls; he made a duplicate and had it become the damaged side of Obito’s body.”  
  
Tsunade just stared at me.  
  
“Got to love a short version, huh?” I said wryly.  
  
“I’m not sure I believe half of what you just said,” Tsunade said seriously. “Madara was still alive then?”  
  
“I told you it was _long_ and _complicated_ ,” I said, annoyed, “ _Kisame_ and _Itachi_ , go after Roshi.”  
  
Tsunade didn’t stop me this time.  
  
“Naruto was _supposed_ to be Itachi and Kisame, uh, two years ago?” I said unsurely. “I’m pretty sure that happened before he went to find you, right?”  
  
Tsunade stared at me for a long moment.  
  
“You know that Naruto is a Jinchuriki.” Tsunade said seriously, “How did you find that out?”  
  
“Same way I found everything else out,” I said easily, “The eight-tails-”  
  
Tsunade cut me off again.  
  
“I’m going to need a better explanation,” Tsunade said seriously.  
  
“Too bad,” I said cheekily, “ _I_ want a lot of things, but we don’t always get what we want.”  
  
Tsunade stared me down for a long moment, and the atmosphere grew very tense; her chakra was causing some kind of effect, almost like pressure on her surroundings.  
  
“Besides, our deal was information about Akatsuki in exchange for training, food, and a place to stay.” I said easily, “Where my information comes from has nothing to do with Akatsuki, you’re digging into things that you haven’t paid for.”  
  
The pressure continued to grow, along with her chakra. Was this killing intent, maybe? If it were, my weird body wasn’t reacting to it like I would imagine a person with chakra might. I don’t think I had a way to _receive_ the effect.  
  
“Trying to intimidate me when I’m co-operating, huh?” I said easily, “You’re going to have to buy me _two_ drinks now before I answer _any_ more questions.”  
  
The pressure abruptly disappeared before Tsunade leaned back in her chair for a moment, seemingly taking some time to revaluate her approach, she had apparently gotten pretty heated for a minute there, so it was probably a good idea, considering I was a source of valuable information.  
  
I honestly doubted she had done that on a whim, though. It had to have been calculated, likely something they had come up with while I was gone or standard procedure for getting information out of subjects who were being difficult.  
  
“You understand why I’m digging on this issue?” Tsunade wondered.  
  
“Sure,” I said honestly, “A guy turns up, you’re super attracted to him, but he's kind of suspicious, has all the information you need about the organization that even Jiraiya was struggling to dig up. It makes perfect sense that your worried about what else he knows, especially internally related secrets like Naruto being a Jinchuriki, his mother being the Jinchuriki before him, or even that his father was Minato Namikaze.”  
  
Tsunade stilled.  
  
“Yeah, imagine what I would do if I knew things like that?” I said easily, “I mean, I certainly wouldn’t help Team Kakashi in the Land of the Moon, or Team Naruto in the Land of the Vegetables. I certainly wouldn’t go around killing all the guys who are _obviously_ evil, and intent on ripping the nine-tails out of Naruto, or even telling you about Gaara, so he doesn’t get ganked, or trying to help stop Akatsuki from combining all of the tailed beasts into a single creature and then destroying whichever ninja villages they like the least.”  
  
I paused for a beat.  
  
“Nope, I _must_ be an enemy of Konoha, right?” I said resignedly, “Give me a fucking break, Tsunade.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 37  
> Health Points - 2730/2730  
> Mana Points - 6877/6877  
> Vitality 273 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 307 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 573 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 108 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 48 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 595 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 7 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 114.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 124.25 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 107 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 109.75 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 666  
> Perception Rating - 108  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.
> 
> Money (moon dollars) - $3,468.
> 
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)  
> Stealth – (None)


	23. Dreaming of Conversation

Tsunade was quiet for a long moment, before reaching down to her drawer and opening it. I watched as she took a white ceramic bottle of some kind and placed it on the desk, before retrieving two saucers from the same draw. She placed them both down before filling them with whatever liquid she was keeping in the unmarked bottle.  
  
Tsunade pushed the saucer over to me before picking her own up and drinking it. I followed her example, wondering if I was about to get a ‘Poisoned’ notification, but it didn’t appear. The liquid tasted _terrible_ though, like absolutely gross.  
  
“You’re the most powerful person in the village and you’re drinking this crap?” I said wryly.  
  
Tsunade snorted.  
  
“Do you have any idea how much this is worth?” Tsunade said bemused.  
  
“Given how awful it is,” I said honestly, “I would expect someone to pay _you_ to drink it.”  
  
Tsunade huffed out a breath before refilling both saucers.  
  
“What is this, anyway?” I said curiously.  
  
“Rice wine,” Tsunade said strangely. “What do you usually drink?”  
  
“Whiskey,” I said easily, before drinking the saucer with a grimace.  
  
Tsunade took her own in hand and sipped at it for a moment.  
  
“Where was I?” I wondered, “Ah, Kisame Hoshigaki will try to capture Killer B, but I think there might be someone else after him as well, not sure who.”  
  
Tsunade just listened.  
  
“Pain will probably go after Naruto within a year?” I said thoughtfully. “and that’s the bulk of it.”  
  
When did that happen? Before the Kage Summit? Which wasn’t a reliable point in time now because it would probably happen earlier depending on how far Tsunade spread the information.  
  
“Who is Pain?” Tsunade asked curiously.  
  
Oh.  
  
“Pain is Nagato Uzumaki,” I clarified, “Remember the remote body thing I mentioned? He goes by Pain while using them.”  
  
Tsunade nodded in understanding and refilled both saucers again.  
  
“None of the bodies look like Nagato, they are all ninja he either killed or had access to their bodies, all orange hair and black metal piercings,” I said slowly, “One of them is the third teammate, uh, Yakiko?”  
  
“Yahiko.” Tsunade correctly.  
  
“Yeah, Yahiko,” I said pleasantly, “That guy got killed by Danzo or one of his men or something I can’t remember.”  
  
Tsunade let out a long breath, before taking another sip of her drink. I just downed mine in a single go because it truly tasted terrible. I wasn’t about to waste it though, free drinks were free drinks.  
  
“I spoke to Danzo,” Tsunade said slowly, clearly weighing whether she should reveal anything before doing it anyway. “He said that back when the Hiruzen-sensei was still alive, he went on a mission with several others to broker a deal with Amegakure, specifically Hanzo the Salamander.”  
  
I have no idea if that was what actually happened or Danzo was just covering his ass, I thought he had sent a root team to go kill them for some reason. I couldn’t exactly counter his claim with just vague memories though.  
  
“Possibly,” I said easily, “Yahiko was most likely killed during that mission though, and Nagato went on to go murder Hanzo and take over Amegakure.”  
  
Tsunade took a long time musing over the information while she sipped at her rice wine. Hmm, hadn’t the Sanin fought that guy once? Three against one or something and he had bodied them all. Tsunade was probably trying to figure out how strong Nagato was, and how she stacked up.  
  
“Didn’t you get spanked by Hanzo once?” I said cheekily, I really couldn’t help myself.  
  
Tsunade huffed and proceeded to refill both of our saucers once more.  
  
“You didn’t say who will go after the six-tails,” Tsunade mentioned, after taking a sip.  
  
Oh.  
  
“I’m going to say it’s Pain again?” I said unsurely, “I’m not quite sure, though.”  
  
Tsunade pulled her brows together and fell silent in thought.  
  
“You won’t tell me _how_ you came to know all of these things, some of which are _very_ well-kept secrets,” Tsunade said slowly, “but what about _why_ you are revealing it to me, to Konoha?”  
  
I tilted my head, was she asking for my motivation for helping Konoha? That was essentially what I was doing, after all, I probably could have asked for a lot more than some basic training and a place to stay for a few months, this information was practically priceless.  
  
“I have a few friends here,” I said honestly.  
  
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged before downing the drink.  
  
“Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Choji, Hinata,” I rattled off the ones that I actually had reason to know about.  
  
I paused before grinning at her.  
  
“I’d like to be your friend too, but I was thinking we should tack on a ‘with-benefits.’” I said cheekily.  
  
Tsunade actually laughed at that and there was a small lull in the conversation before she regained her composure.  
  
“I’m curious about the technique you used to help Yakumo-san.” Tsunade said pleasantly, “It seemed very similar to the one Sakura described from her first meeting with you.”  
  
Hmm, a pretty big topic divergence along with a large tonal change, but not _quite_ digging for free information yet, I might be able to swing a discount out of this.  
  
“I’ll be honest with you, Tsunade,” I said easily, “I don’t think there is anyone else in the world that could use it, you just don’t have the right parts.”  
  
Tsunade scrunched up her brow at the answer.  
  
“I’ll let you use a diagnostic jutsu on me so you can see why, in exchange for halving the cost of the escort to the Land of the Rivers,” I offered.  
  
Tsunade hummed before she picked up the bottle and placed it back into the draw, before placing a second one on the desk. I stared at it sadly, it was no doubt the same disgusting liquid as before. I see her new approach to the situation was to ply me with so much alcohol that I told her all of my secrets, it may have actually been working too.  
  
After Tsunade had refilled both of our drinks again, she spoke.  
  
“I feel like I’m hemorrhaging more and more money the longer I speak with you,” Tsunade said wryly.  
  
She had finally caught on to what I was doing, I guess I wasn’t exactly being subtle.  
  
“But you’re _far_ too interested in getting your hands on me to decline the deal,” I said cheerfully, “So have at it then you brute, my body is yours!”  
  
Tsunade rolled her eyes and stood up, before slowly rounding the desk.  
  
I stuck my hand out and she leaned back against the desk before her hand lit up with green light. I watched curiously as she placed her hand on my own, and her brow immediately pulled together. Tsunade moved her jutsu further up my arm, and her expression became more interested as it fed her more information about my body.  
  
“Where the hell is your chakra?” Tsunade murmured, “There’s _something_ there-, there’s no pathways _or_ tenketsu?”  
  
I just snickered, that was easy money, I should be able to afford Karenbana’s services for at least another month or two with what I had left, especially if I could get Tsunade to pay me my winnings.  
  
“There’s a thick _layer_ , some kind of-,” Tsunade muttered, biting her lip in thought, “Heat? Energy? What is generating it?”  
  
Tsunade had moved her hand to my shoulder now, seemingly searching for where the energy was originating, she briefly moved her hand up to my face, and I was blinded by the green light of her hand for a moment. There was a brief moment where I thought she was going to use the moment to attack me or something, but she just dropped her hand to my neck again.  
  
“It’s called Mana,” I said cheerfully, “It can do all sorts of cool things.”  
  
“Mana?” Tsunade said distractedly, “Why don’t you have _chakra_? _Everything_ has chakra.”  
  
Tsunade moved her hand down to my collarbone, and chest, just above where my Mana originated.  
  
“I have no idea, I just woke up like this one day, no memory of before.” I said easily, “Say, Tsunade, if you’re going to keep on groping me, I’ll start getting ideas.”  
  
Tsunade blew air out of her nose at the unsatisfying answer.  
  
“Don’t get any ideas,” Tsunade said belatedly.  
  
“Say, you’ve got some kind of accelerated aging effect going on, a result of some kind of cell division technique,” I wondered, “If you get me a _free_ escort to the Land of Rivers, I’ll take care of it for you.”  
  
I had actually forgotten about it entirely, but it was still registering as a status effect, so I was mostly sure that I could fix it. Tsunade pulled back for a moment to narrow her eyes at me.  
  
“There is absolutely no way you could know that,” Tsunade said annoyed.  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“I wasn’t _just_ staring at your chest you know,” I said cheekily, “I was using a diagnostic technique of my own.”  
  
I lied, I was totally just staring at her chest. This genjutsu was super-model tier, while I was still young, partially drunk, and had been on my own for four and a half weeks, could you blame me?  
  
“It's not the kind of thing you can just fix,” Tsunade said evenly.  
  
“Give me the free escort and I’ll prove you wrong, right now,” I said confidently.  
  
Tsunade had returned to studying the mana in my hand, I slowly reached a hand towards her own glowing green one and tried to wrap my fingers around her wrist. Tsunade used her other hand to bat it out of the way idly, so I latched onto that one instead.  
  
“I’m going for it,” I said honestly, “Don’t beat the crap out of me or anything, I’m totally fragile, can’t take a punch or anything really, I’ll start crying, and you’ll feel awful.”  
  
Tsunade let her technique gutter out and turned her head to look at where my hand was holding her wrist. I dumped all of my mana into a Status Removal and she broke my grip barely a second after it had taken effect, already using a diagnostic technique where I had touched. I dropped into Meditate immediately, to recover my lost mana.  
  
“What exactly is that technique?” Tsunade said intently, before a longer pause. “The level of deterioration has reduced _somehow_.”  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“It figures out what the ‘true’ condition is supposed to be,” I said easily, “and then works to transform it back to that condition, but it only works for things that are abnormal enough to be classed as ‘Effects’ to the technique.”  
  
I held my hand out to her again, and she glanced at it before going back to diagnosing herself. I let my hand drop and after almost five minutes of her silently checking herself over, she moved to sit on the edge of the desk and then held out her hand expectantly.  
  
“Free escort to the Land of Rivers,” Tsunade said evenly.  
  
I snatched her by the wrist again and dumped all my mana into another spell. Tsunade didn’t freak out this time, instead, her own hand lit up and she proceeded to monitor what I was doing with her diagnostic technique, no doubt to see if I was using the chance to do something suspicious.  
  
“The ‘Effects’ that Yakumo-san had?” Tsunade murmured, “You called them ‘Weak body’ and ‘Chakra Personality Manifestation?’”  
  
“Yep, that was them,” I confirmed, “Lee had, uh, ‘Shattered Bones’ and ‘Chakra Locked.’”  
  
“Chakra Locked?” Tsunade frowned.  
  
“I was pretty new to the diagnostic technique back then, it’s possible if I saw it today it would say something different,” I theorized, “Malformed Chakra Network? Underdeveloped Chakra System? Who knows?”  
  
“What kind of technique works like that?” Tsunade said annoyed.  
  
I rolled my eyes.  
  
“Were you able to cure chakra cancer on your first day?” I said dryly.  
  
“What the hell is ‘Chakra Cancer?’” Tsunade said amused. “Chakra has _nothing_ to do with cancer, what kind of doctor are you exactly?”  
  
I grinned up at her.  
  
“I actually a blind gynecologist,” I said cheekily, “but I’m damn good at lip-reading if you’re interested?”  
  
“That is _terrible_ ,” Tsunade laughed out loud, amused. “Why don’t you keep the technique active to sustain the effect?”  
  
I dumped all my mana into another spell, the effect was weakening, every couple of casts.  
  
“Check my energy after I use it next.” I said easily, “You’ll see why.”  
  
Tsunade placed her hand on my head, almost like I was a dog, I stared up at her with narrowed eyes and she smirked. I dumped all my mana again and she blinked, before tilting her head.  
  
“Your ‘Mana’ vanished?” Tsunade wondered, “It's coming back rapidly though, very rapidly. If you had to convert a unit of ‘Mana’ into a unit of ‘Chakra,’ what would be the conversion ratio?”  
  
“One-to-one? I think they're about equal, but the effects of the different types of energy seem to diverge massively.” I guessed. “I’ve never really thought about it, I had been assuming that the numbers were equivalent, but I suppose I don’t actually _know_ -”  
  
Tsunade eyebrows raised and I blinked at what I had just said.  
  
“Wow, that shitty rice wine is really paying dividends isn’t it?” I said bemused, I was revealing a lot of information, for no real gain here. “What did you put in it, truth serum?”  
  
Embarrassingly enough, I knew it was just what I was like when I was drunk, much more open.  
  
“It’s just alcohol,” Tsunade said amused. “The technique is ludicrously expensive then, how are you able to regenerate your mana so quickly?”  
  
I hummed.  
  
“It’s a training technique, the more I learn about regenerating it the easier it is to do, and the faster it becomes as a result,” I said slowly.  
  
I dumped all my mana and the ‘Accelerated Ageing’ finally vanished, and the strange age rating returned to normal.  
  
“Why Tsunade! You look _fourteen_ years younger! I have to ask, what’s your secret?” I said cheerfully, “and that’s an exact count in case you were curious.”  
  
“Fourteen years of deterioration?” Tsunade said muttered, “That’s even more costly than I had determined.”  
  
“I’m going to have _so_ much fun traveling to the Land of Rivers on Konoha’s Ryo.” I said cheekily, “Who are you going to send me with? Lee? Choji? Sakura? Hinata? Kakashi? The suspense is _killing_ me!”  
  
Tsunade looked thoughtful for a moment, seemingly thinking about the request.  
  
“Feel like getting out of the office for a couple of weeks?” I teased. “Relive your youth a little, now that it's returned? Think of all the mischief we could get up to!”  
  
“As fun as spending _weeks_ with you sounds,” Tsunade said dryly, “I’ll think I’ll have to pass.”  
  
I pouted, she was so mean.  
  
“Run the mission parameters by me again?” Tsunade said idly, still leaning against the desk in front of me and once more checking herself over with her technique. “Combat? Expected opposition? Additional requirements?”  
  
“Guide from here to the Land of Rivers and back again,” I said thoughtfully, “Possibility of bandits I suppose? I want someone fun too, give me your most eccentric ninja, go on I can take it!”  
  
I grinned at her, who would that be anyway? Lee? Gai? I suppose Kakashi was pretty damn eccentric, with my luck she would send Shikamaru or something just to annoy me.  
  
“You haven’t even mentioned why you are going there.” Tsunade said wryly, “Do you have more plants to water?”  
  
“I left the oven on,” I said cheerfully, blowing straight past the question. “Say, Tsunade, what are the Hokage’s working hours?”  
  
Tsunade blinked at the completely off-topic question.  
  
“Why?” Tsunade asked strangely.  
  
“Because we have a night filled with alcohol and regrets to get to!” I said cheerfully, “I’ll even let you keep the thousand moon dollars you owe me, what do you say?”  
  
Tsunade considered it for a long moment, before letting out a hum.  
  
“I’m regretting this already,” Tsunade said dryly.  
  
“That’s the spirit!” I said cheerfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 37  
> Health Points - 2730/2730  
> Mana Points - 6877/6877  
> Vitality 273 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 307 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 573 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 108 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 48 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 595 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 7 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 114.5 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 124.25 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 107 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 109.75 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 666  
> Perception Rating - 108  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.
> 
> Money (moon dollars) - $3,468.
> 
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)  
> Stealth – (None)


	24. Dreaming of Rivers

The Land of Rivers was actually much closer to Konoha than Wave was, almost by half. Assuming I would find the swords in the first couple of days, we would most likely be back fairly quickly. I didn’t intend on stopping to train on this trip either.  
  
I wanted to get both the cleaver and the twin swords into the hands of my minions so they could get some practice in with them before they had to actually use them. Once we all got used to using them a bit more, we could even get some practice in against each other with them, which should prove useful.  
  
I’d forgotten about using the Dragonblade in the panic that had overtaken me during the fight against Kakuzu and Hidan. I was also completely sure that if I had pulled it out and attempted to go into melee with either of them, I would be dead.  
  
So maybe panicking did occasionally have its uses.  
  
I’d been thinking about trying to make some kind of buff that I could place on Karenbana and Fu as well; Something like Protect? Or Haste? I knew that I could cast spells on other people, even though they didn’t have Mana, because Heal worked perfectly fine, as did Status Removal. I was hoping the same would apply in this case.  
  
It was something to attempt to create when I got back again; the concentration needed to unlock these spells wasn’t something I could just muster up on the fly. It was an effort of will that I needed to work at; It had seemed so much easier in the source material.  
  
Speaking of spells; I was super glad that Status Removal worked on ‘Hungover’ and ‘Intoxicated,’ because it was an effort of will drag myself out of Tsunade’s bed when I had first woken up; either way, I was _never_ drinking rice wine again, it tasted terrible, and the hangover was awful.  
  
Either way, I’d dealt with it, and now I was waiting at the west-gate for my mysterious escort to arrive. I felt a chakra signature heading towards me, one I’d never felt before, definitely Jonin level though. I stepped away from the gate to turn towards them.  
  
“Good morning, you match the description of the client Hokage-sama told me about yesterday,” Anko said professionally. “An escort mission?”  
  
“That’s me,” I said cheerfully, “Now take me to the Land of Rivers, minion!”  
  


* * *

“My feet hurt!” I complained, “Carry me!”  
  
“No,” Anko smirked, “I hope they fall off.”  
  
“You can’t say that to me!” I cried, “I’m the client, and the client is always right!”  
  
“The client is wrong like half of the time,” Anko said immediately. “You’re probably wrong most of the time, though if I had to guess.”  
  
The absolute balls on this woman, it was great.  
  
“When I take over the world, I’ll make sure you’re the one who’s digging the latrines,” I said cheerfully.  
  
Anko snorted.  
  
“Konoha would definitely have to stop you if that was your goal.” Anko said easily, “But I think I could spare a moment away from the latrines to put a kunai in your eye.”  
  
“Hah, I’m out of your league, Miss _Special_ Jonin.” I cackled, “I can’t believe they had to invent an entirely new rank just so you could sit at the big boy table, how embarrassing.”  
  
“Fuck off,” Anko said, annoyed, eye twitching.  
  
I just grinned.  
  
The Land of Rivers, just like its name suggested, had multiple rivers running all throughout it. We ended up crossing quite a few of them on the trip towards the ‘Curry of Life’ shop that was apparently quite famous in the area. I hadn’t revealed my actual destination until we had crossed the border, and I was glad that she actually seemed to know of its general location.  
  
It would have been awkward if she didn’t.  
  
Anko was less eccentric than I would have assumed, given what I remember of her from the series. I thought she was a bloodthirst kunoichi who ran around stabbing people and then licking the blood off. She might have done that during her downtime, but she seemed completely professional while on the job, or at least she had started that way until I had _thoroughly_ introduced myself; then, she had started to loosen up a bit.  
  
“Why do you want to go to this curry place anyway?” Anko wondered.  
  
“What do you think I want to do at a curry restaurant, dumbass?” I said immediately, “Shove it up my ass? Are you really a ninja? Did Tsunade rip me off?”  
  
Anko bared her teeth in an angry smile.  
  
“If you wanted to eat curry,” Anko said dangerously, “Why did you need to come all the way here?”  
  
I grinned at her.  
  
“That’s for me to know,” I taunted, “and tease you with until you finally break down and attack me in a fit of rage, at which point I can demand a refund from Tsunade.”  
  
“You can’t get a refund if you’re dead,” Anko smirked.  
  
Clearly, Anko wasn’t aware that I had managed to get this mission for free, which was pretty amusing.  
  
“How far away are we anyway?” I asked curiously, “I thought you said we were getting close?”  
  
Neither of us had slowed down during our conversation, running along the road at speed. Anko had attempted to get me to jump through the trees, but I wasn’t having any of that nonsense; I would get a coat-hangered by a branch or slip and break my neck.  
  
The road we were on now was slowly elevating up onto a mountainous path; I could feel a strange but powerful chakra up ahead, along with a civilian level one with it.  
  
“We are close; it should be around that next bend,” Anko said easily.  
  
I couldn’t help myself.  
  
“ _Should be_? Did it grow legs and walk away?” I cried, “What kind of nonsense are you trying to sell me here? I’m giving you a one-star rating!”  
  
Anko turned to look at me in disbelief.  
  
“We don’t even _have_ a rating system!” Anko said, annoyed.  
  
“Why the hell not? I want to leave a terrible review that gets stuck on your record for the rest of your life so that all the other ninjas laugh at you!” I cackled.  
  
We came around the bend she had indicated, and low and behold, there was a small building about halfway down the pathway. The chakra signatures were coming from inside, I was going to go out on a limb and say that it was the kid that had been with the sword guy, and the curry-makers son, I couldn’t feel a signature indicating the old lady herself was around.  
  
That was a bit sad.  
  
“I told you it was here, idiot.” Anko said triumphantly, “You had better give me a good review or I’m going to-”  
  
I cut her off with a shit-eating grin.  
  
“Wow!” I said, impressed, “You managed to find a restaurant, that’s _really_ impressive _ninja_ work, say; if you were a gold mine, where would you be?”  
  
Anko looked pissed for a moment before she managed to calm herself down enough to pull a folded-up map out of her pack. I watched as she spent a few moments studying it, and the tiny writing that was all over it.  
  
“Katabami Gold Mine? It’s Southwest of here, half an hour, maybe?” Anko said thoughtfully, before stowing the map away again.  
  
“That’s probably it,” I said easily, “Say, which direction is southwest?”  
  
Anko stared at me for a moment before shaking her head and pointing off towards a mountainous area in the distance.  
  
“You never wanted curry at all, did you?” Anko said resignedly. “What do you want with a gold mine?”  
  
I grinned at her.  
  
“If you can guess, I’ll give you a hundred thousand Ryo or something equally as valuable,” I said easily, covering my bases. “But if you get it wrong, you have to tell me your boring ass life story, starting at the beginning all the way too now, so I can laugh at you.”  
  
Anko narrowed her eyes at me.  
  
“Fine,” Anko said easily, “If I get it right, I want the hundred thousand Ryo, _and_ you’re buying me some Dango on the way back.”  
  
“If you win, you get all that money!” I said, annoyed, “Buy your own damn Dango!”  
  
Anko just crossed her arms.  
  
“Fine!” I pouted. “If you win, I’ll throw in some Dango as well.”  
  


* * *

  
“Nope,” I said easily, “Wrong again.”  
  
We had already arrived at the mining town and were sitting up high above it, watching them all go about their lives. It seemed to be a rather peaceful town, all things considered, the area did look vaguely familiar; it was pretty accurate to what I remembered from the source.  
  
I studied the area further out from the town, trying to figure out which direction to go in first; there were at least three different rivers in view from here, in different directions. Each of them was far below, amidst the cliffs and mountains.  
  
“Do you know someone here?” Anko tried again, “Coming to see a friend?”  
  
I chose a river and started heading towards it, and Anko immediately followed.  
  
“Nope,” I said honestly, “I’ve never met anyone from here.”  
  
I carefully made my way down to the first river, with liberal use of wall adhesion and small hops. This would be so much easier if I could just use Jaunt, but I didn’t really want to have to explain _that_.  
  
Kubikiribōchō had held a noticeable amount of chakra within it, and I was hoping that these two swords did as well. An hour spent pacing that river failed to bring anything up on my energy sense larger than a few wild animals.  
  
I headed towards the second river that was closest to my position, idly listening as Anko continued to make random guesses, each of which was becoming more outlandish by the second.  
  
“You had a secret tryst with the Daughter of the Daimyo of Fire, and hid the child here to escape the ninja that was sent in revenge?” Anko said unenthusiastically.  
  
I blinked and turned to her, shocked.  
  
“Wow, I can’t believe you actually got it,” I said incredulously. “How the hell?”  
  
“Really?” Anko said excitedly.  
  
“Of course not, idiot,” I said, amused.  
  
Anko muttered something rude under her breath.  
  
“I am _definitely_ going to eat Dango in front of you on the way back,” I said evilly, “Your tears will bring me great joy!”  
  
Anko scoffed.  
  
Something pinged at the edge of my range, at the bottom of the riverbed, a second identical signature joined it thirty meters up the river.  
  
“The last guess,” I said, grinning.  
  
Anko narrowed her eyes suspiciously, looking around the area for anything that might stand out, before glancing at the river.  
  
“I don’t fucking know,” Anko complained, “Gold in the river?”  
  
I stopped us next to where the first signature was and grinned at her before diving back into the river. Anko just watched curiously as I disappeared beneath the water; I swam down. I could see the blade poking out from beneath a layer of mud.  
  
I observed it before grabbing onto the handle of the sword before inventorying and resurfacing.

* * *

Kiba (Legendary)

  * Cuts through most things.
  * Boosts the user's lightning affinity or allows the use of lighting techniques without one.
  * Able to conduct both Lightning Chakra and natural Lightning.
  * It can be connected by the hilts into a single double-bladed form.



* * *

“Whoops,” I said sheepishly as I climbed up onto the water. “Wrong spot.”  
  
Anko raised an eyebrow and followed me as I jogged along the river until I was standing over the other sword.  
  
“One second,” I said cheerfully and let the Mana at my feet vanish.  
  
I fell down into the water and then swam the rest of the way down to inventory the matching sword. I snagged a smooth river stone from the riverbed and then came back up again.  
  
“There we go!” I said happily and swam back to the shore. “Now, we can leave.”  
  
Anko stared at me with narrowed eyes.  
  
“What did you get?” Anko demanded, “Where is it?”  
  
I grinned at her and pulled the stone out of my pocket, holding it out towards her.  
  
“What the hell is this?” Anko said seriously.  
  
“It’s my pet rock!” I cried, “I accidentally dropped him in a river back in the Land of Waterfalls, I can’t believe how far he’s traveled!”  
  
“Bullshit, those two rivers aren’t even connected.” Anko said immediately, “Something else was down there; what did you do, seal it somewhere?”  
  
I grinned at her.  
  
“Two things actually,” I said easily, “I’ll let you guess again for the same prize, but if you _fail_ to figure it out before we get back to Konoha, you have to buy _me_ dango instead, and I’m going to eat it in front of you.”  
  
“Fine,” Anko said easily, “A statue?”  
  
“Nope,” I cackled, “Wrong again, and you can get started on your tragic backstory any time now.”  
  


* * *

  
The trip back to Konoha was hilarious.  
  
Anko hadn’t even gotten remotely close, and she had been systematically naming off every single common item she could think of in-between short bouts of how she had grown up. We were into the thousands of guesses at this point, and I was actually surprised she hadn’t given up already. That last step back into Konoha was filled with triumph for me, and failure for Anko.  
  
“I’m feeling hungry all of a sudden!” I said cheerfully, “Where are you taking me?”  
  
Anko huffed before leading me to a small building that primarily sold tea, but also sold several other food snacks. I watched as Anko spoke to the old man behind the counter for a moment before she returned to the table I had selected.  
  
“Did you even find anything?” Anko said sullenly, “Or was this just a ploy to get free lunch?”  
  
“You think I would organize a trip to the Land of Rivers, hire a Jonin escort, travel all the way there, pretend to look for something in a bunch of rivers, all so that you would buy me Dango?” I said incredulously, “How did you discover my evil plan?”  
  
“Idiot.” Anko snorted, “Are you ever going to tell me what it is, though?”  
  
I hummed to myself but didn’t respond, and she groaned before laying her head down on the table. We fell into a some-what comfortable silence until the food arrived and the old man told us to enjoy our meal. I picked up one of the sticks of Dango and brought it up to my mouth.  
  
Anko watched sadly.  
  
“Mm,” I moaned, “That is some _good_ Dango.”  
  
“I actually hate you.” Anko admitted, “You might be the worse client I’ve ever had.”  
  
“Tell me I’m the _best_ client you’ve ever had,” I said pleasantly, “and I’ll give you one of the sticks.”  
  
“You are the single best client I have ever had the pleasure of escorting in my entire career,” Anko said immediately, before snatching one off the plate.  
  
I laughed.  
  
“I’m actually surprised you didn’t figure out what I was looking for,” I said curiously, “I would have thought Konoha would have been all over that.”  
  
Anko made a noise of pleasure at the Dango, and I could honestly see what she meant; this was seriously good; I was probably going to come back here.  
  
“Then again, you lot seem to have a bizarre history of leaving the Seven Swords of the Mist behind after you kill one of their members.” I said suspiciously, “I mean, why the hell wouldn’t you send a team to go pick them up? There is no way that they didn’t report an encounter with one of those guys.”  
  
“What?” Anko said incredulously, “Which sword was in the river? No, wait, it was two swords because you checked two different spots, Kiba?”  
  
“That’s the one, well two, I suppose,” I said cheerfully, before pushing the plate of Dango over to her. “Imagine not figuring that out, your ninja ancestors are shaking there heads sternly at you.”  
  
Anko looked overwhelmed by my generosity and pissed off at my taunting; it made for an interesting expression.  
  
“Anyway, I’m off to find my minions!” I said cheerfully, standing up. “I have some presents to give them, and it's going to be hilarious.”  
  
I hadn’t seen either of them since before I had left for Wave, so I was sure they would both be annoyed, which made this the perfect time to piss them off even more. My evil plans were foiled, however, when Anko quickly ate another skewer of Dango before standing up as well.  
  
“Nope!” Anko managed around a mouth stuffed with Dango. “We have to go see the Hokage first.”  
  
I pouted, but Anko didn’t seem to care.  
  


* * *

  
Despite my whining, Anko refused to break protocol and dragged me up to the tower. I was already sure they knew we were back because Kakashi and Tsunade had both waiting in her office. When Anko finally opened the doors and dragged me inside.  
  
Literally dragged, mind you, because I had let myself go limp in a silent protest to this injustice.  
  
“Hey, Tsunade, Kakashi,” I said cheerfully from the floor. “I’ve missed you both dearly, Anko is a terrible conversationalist, you know?”  
  
“Mm,” Kakashi said at length.  
  
Anko huffed.  
  
“Reporting a successful but incredibly annoying mission, Hokage-sama,” Anko said dryly.  
  
“Thank you, Anko,” Tsunade said, amused. “I’m sorry to have put you through that, I know it must have been difficult.”  
  
Ouch.  
  
“I bought her, Dango!” I protested, “She even said I was the best client she had ever had!”  
  
“I paid for that Dango,” Anko said, annoyed, “And that other part never happened.”  
  
I gaped up at her.  
  
“Liar, Liar! Pants on-” I cried, “You’re not wearing any pants, though, which is rather nice-Oof.”  
  
Anko kicked me in the stomach.  
  
“Uncalled for.” I wheezed, before slowly pushing myself to my feet.  
  
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Kakashi said idly.  
  
I grinned.  
  
“I did,” I said cheerfully, “Did Sakura tell you I jacked Zabuza’s sword?”  
  
Kakashi raised his single visible eyebrow.  
  
“I recall her mentioning it, although she never actually saw you with it,” Kakashi said easily.  
  
I held my hand out to the side obviously and took a step away from everyone.  
  
“Stand back, and watch, as I pull a giant buster sword out of thin air!” I said grandly, before bringing Kubikiribōchō out of my inventory with a flourish.  
  
“Holy shit,” Anko said incredulously. “Why is it so big?”  
  
“That’s what she said-” I started before I overbalanced from the weight and the tip cut a groove through the floor.  
  
“Whoops,” I said belatedly.  
  
“Put that away,” Tsunade said resignedly.  
  
I inventoried it before taking another step backward and holding out both arms.  
  
“I have a couple more if you want to see?” I grinned.  
  
Despite my previous desecration of the floor, nobody said no, so I brought out the two Kiba and kind of waved them around awkwardly, not willing to try anything tricky again. I inventoried them and then stepped forward again.  
  
“You guys should really stop leaving these around everywhere,” I said cheerfully, “Someone might go around and grab them!”  
  
“Mm,” Kakashi said evenly.  
  
“They were both ‘destroyed’ on the mission reports,” Tsunade said seriously.  
  
Oh shit, don’t worry, Kakashi; I have your back.  
  
“The Kubikiribōchō was just a handle when I found it, but a little bit of blood, it was perfectly alright again.” I said cheerfully, “The Kiba’s were on the bottom of a river in the middle of nowhere, though; lost would have been more appropriate for that one.”  
  
Tsunade hummed thoughtfully, and apparently, let us get away with the little deception because she moved on.  
  
“What do you intend to do with them?” Tsunade asked seriously.  
  
“I’m going to give them to my minions,” I said immediately. “Anyway, we have Kakashi here now, let's kick this low-ranking scrub out of here and get down to the real nitty-gritty.”  
  
“What did you just call me?” Anko said incredulously.  
  
“Ignore him, Anko.” Tsunade said wryly, “We do, however, have some sensitive information to discuss.”  
  
“Yeah, Yeah.” Anko pouted, “I’m going, I’m going.”  
  
“Hey, that curse you were talking about?” Sora called after her, “Come find me, and I’ll take a look at it for you; since I was such a dickhead.”  
  
“What do you think you can do about it?” Anko scoffed.  
  
Kakashi spoke up, possibly returning my covering for the false report with a bit of goodwill.  
  
“I saw him turn a petrified king back into perfect health, and heal Gai’s student,” Kakashi said boredly, “You should probably take him up on the offer.”  
  
Anko studied them for a moment before leaving. I took one of the chairs across from Tsunade, Kakashi spoke up.  
  
“Obito is still alive,” Kakashi said evenly.  
  
“He sure is, buddy,” I said cheerfully. “Alright, long answer time,”  
  
I told them most of what I remembered about the situation; the footnotes being Madara was still around on some kind of life support made from a clone of the first Hokage’s body or some nonsense and had White Zetsu working for him. I mentioned in greater detail what Zetsu was capable of, and I even mentioned that the black half of Zetsu was actually a really old minion that planned on eventually betraying them both to revive its master.  
  
I mentioned how they had used a combination of the first Hokage’s cells, and white Zetsu had become Obito’s body and how he had the Mangekyou Sharingan, and his general skillset, teleporting, phasing through things, and everything else I could remember about the guy. When I eventually got to what exactly he was doing inside Akatsuki, everyone had become quiet and thoughtful.  
  
“So that’s pretty much it, he’s pissed off because of Rin, wants to use the infinite Tsukuyomi to make a world with her in it or something, I don’t know.” I shrugged, I might have been wrong about a lot of it, but it had literally been _years_ since I had last watched any of it. “Which is pretty stupid honestly, he plans on using the Edo Tensei to summon Madara, and then use the weird Rinnegan ability that Nagato has to bring Madara back to life.”  
  
Nobody said anything, so I kept on going.  
  
“Why doesn’t he just summon Rin with Edo Tensei?” I added, “Revive _her_ with the eyes? She would be literally alive and not a fake illusion. For such an evil mastermind, he’s a bit stupid, honestly.”  
  
Maybe there was a reason he couldn’t, I don’t really know, but it seemed pretty strange to me.  
  
“Anyway!” I said cheerfully, “It was nice seeing you again Kakashi, we should totally hang out sometime, you can watch me have sex again!”  
  
Kakashi was seemingly caught off guard by the sudden drastic turn the conversation had gone in and laughed nervously for a moment; I cherished it.  
  
Tsunade looked bemused by the last part.  
  
“Tsunade, we should definitely hang out as well; you are hilarious to drink with.” I continued, “Anyway, I’m off to see my minions; I haven’t seen them in, uh, two months? Or maybe take a nap instead, I kind of need to not exist for a little while, you know where I am if you need me.”  
  
Neither of them stopped me as I made my way out of the room, and I stretched my arms up above my head; today had been long, exceptionally long. I think I’d earned a nap at least, to just turn off my brain for a while; I hadn’t had one of those in a long time.  
  
I made my way back to the place Konoha had given us for the duration of our stay and let myself in with the key, tossed most of my clothes off, and then flopped face-first onto the bed.  
  
My minions could wait another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 37  
> Health Points - 2800/2800  
> Mana Points - 7090/7090  
> Vitality 280 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 309 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 584 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 109 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 50 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 615 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 7 HP/s  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 117.25 MP/s  
> Stamina Recovery Rate – 128.5 SP/s  
> Mana Cost Reduction – 111.75 MP  
> Cast Time Reduction – 114 seconds.  
> Stealth Rating – 687  
> Perception Rating - 109  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.
> 
> Money (moon dollars) - $2,211.
> 
> Skills in use  
> Iron Hide - (1mp/s)  
> Energy Sense – (1mp/s)  
> Vision – (1mp/s)  
> Stealth – (None)


	25. Dreaming of Minions

I woke up to the sound of a quiet voice and what felt like something touching my forehead. I opened my eyes to find Fu sitting on the floor beside my bed, face perhaps an inch away, staring at me with her finger held out in front of her.  
  
“That is the creepiest thing I have ever woken up to in my entire life.” I murmured.  
  
Fu pouted.  
  
“I suggested we beat the shit out of you,” Karenbana said seriously, “After suddenly disappearing for _two months_ without even _telling_ us you were leaving, well that deserves at least some kind of response.”  
  
I’ll admit, she sounded a bit angrier than I had first imagined; this had been a lot funnier in my head as well.  
  
“Yeah!” Fu said, upset, “Why did you ditch us?”  
  
Hmm.  
  
“I went to go get you both some presents,” I said easily, “Since you are both such terrible excuses for ninjas.”  
  
Karenbana didn’t seem to appreciate how thoughtful I was; Fu did, though.  
  
“What did you get us?!” Fu said excitedly.  
  
“Some stupid present isn’t going to make us any less angry,” Karenbana said intently. “ _Right,_ Fu?”  
  
“Sorry, Karenbana-chan,” Fu said sheepishly. “I forgot!”  
  
Fu retreated to sit next to Karenbana, and they stared at me. Karenbana seems to have unionized the minions somehow; I was going to have to put a stop to that.  
  
“What is this mutiny?” I cried, pushing myself into a sitting position. “No teaming up allowed!”  
  
“No,” Karenbana said seriously, “You can’t just leave us behind like that.”  
  
“Yeah,” Fu said quietly. “That was mean.”  
  
The guilt trip, huh? It’s not like I _wanted_ to go on my own; it was just more efficient that way; I wanted the swords, and they needed the time to train. That’s why I had pushed so hard for an escort to the Land of Rivers, I didn’t want to be on my own the entire time, but I didn’t want these two to waste time that could be used to get stronger.  
  
“Look, it was the best option,” I tried, “You guys needed training, and I needed to go get some things; it all worked out.”  
  
“You didn’t tell us you were leaving, though,” Fu said sadly, “You just abandoned us here, without saying goodbye.”  
  
I glanced away at the tone, stupid feelings.  
  
“Look, despite what you may think,” I said resignedly, “I’m not made of money, at best I have enough to keep paying you for two more months, and that’s it.”  
  
I shrugged.  
  
“I went to get you something to pay for a couple more months,” I said honestly, “Fu, if you are going to stick with me, then I’ll start paying you now as well, the same rate as Karenbana.”  
  
“Karenbana-chan buys me food, so I don’t need any money!” Fu said immediately.  
  
Ouch.  
  
“You are such an idiot,” Karenbana said quietly.  
  
“Fuck off,” I said immediately. “Apologize this instant, you shitty bodyguard.”  
  
“No, stop trying to derail the conversation,” Karenbana said evenly, “I don’t want your money either.”  
  
So this was it, huh?  
  
I’d pushed her a little bit too far and seemingly destroyed our dynamic. I couldn’t remember the names anymore, but the situation certainly wasn’t unfamiliar to me; I had a bad habit of self-destructing like this.  
  
“Okay,” I said cheerfully, “What are you two going to do then? Konoha would probably let you join, I think.”  
  
Karenbana frowned.  
  
“I want to stay with you two,” Fu said, confused.  
  
Now I was confused.  
  
“You are _such_ an idiot,” Karenbana sighed, “You should have stopped paying me over a year ago; I considered us friends then too.”  
  
“Me too!” Fu said immediately, “You’re both my friends!”  
  
“Oh,” I said quietly.  
  
I felt a flash of something behind my eyes, and I blinked it away furiously.  
  
“How _dare_ you make me feel emotionally vulnerable,” I pouted, “You’re both fired.”  
  
“I was never hired!” Fu cried at the same time that Karenbana murmured, “I already quit.”  
  
“I suppose neither of you wants your super cool gifts then,” I said sadly, “That’s a real shame; they were so cool too, really, really cool.”  
  
“I want it!” Fu cried, “What did you get me?”  
  
Karenbana sighed as I easily won Fu back over, and the evil union was destroyed, for now.  
  
“I even traveled all the way to Wave country for Fu’s present,” I said sorrowfully, “It was really heavy too; I’m so disappointed, should I take it back?”  
  
“Sora-kun!” Fu cried, “I want it!”  
  
I pretended not to hear her.  
  
“I went all the way to the Land of Rivers just to get something for Karenbana as well,” I sniffled, “I had to swim in this really scary river and everything; I could have drowned even!”  
  
“Fine,” Karenbana sighed, giving in at last. “What did you get me?”  
  
I grinned and stood up before gesturing for some space, and both of them backed up to the other side of the room. I brought out Kubikiribōchō first, and carefully placed it down on the bed on the right, and then brought out the two Kiba to place on the left bed.  
  
“One Kubikiribōchō for Fu,” I said cheerfully, “Two Kiba for Karenbana.”  
  
They both stared at the weapons in disbelief; I was right; it was just as funny as I had imagined.  
  
“It's so cool!” Fu cheered and leaned over the bed to inspect her sword.  
  
I watched as she struggled to pick it up for a moment before channeling chakra to accomplish the feat.  
  
“How on earth did you get these?” Karenbana said, bewildered.  
  
I leaned against the wall as she picked the two Kiba up and studied the blades.  
  
“Kubikiribōchō was at Zabuza’s grave, Kakashi’s squad put it there years ago, I totally yoinked it, sorry not sorry.” I said breezily, “Kiba was at the bottom of a river after Raiga got evaporated during his fight against Team Nine.”  
  
“Gai-sensei’s team!” Fu cheered.  
  
“I was wondering who they found to train you both,” I said, amused. “Who’s training you, Karenbana? Kakashi?”  
  
Karenbana placed the two swords back on the bed and turned around.  
  
“Yuhei Kurenai is teaching me more genjutsu, but I’ve been working alongside Fu with Team Nine as well,” Karenbana said slowly.  
  
I nodded in understanding; Kakashi was totally a lazy bastard; of course, he didn’t help.  
  
“Sora,” Karenbana said quietly, “Are you really just giving these to us? Do you have any idea what they are worth?”  
  
I looked at her strangely.  
  
“Of course I do; I was going to use them as payment, remember? But there’s no point after you both confessed your undying love for me, though,” I said breezily. “Totally cringe, how embarrassing.”  
  
Karenbana’s cheeks went red, and Fu yelped.  
  
“Anyway, you two better start training with those,” I said easily, “We are going to fight Deidara and Sasori in, uh, three months?”  
  
Something steely flashed through Fu’s eyes at the names, identifying them immediately as the members of Akatsuki I had told her about; I should probably try and distract her before she got stuck in a mood.  
  
“Hey,” I said cheekily, “Did I tell you guys that I banged the Hokage?”  
  
“What?!” Fu cried.  
  
Karenbana turned to stare at me, eyes narrowed to slits; somebody was jealous.  
  


* * *

  
I needed to start preparing for the next fight, and I had three things I needed to cover.  
  
Unlike Kakuzu and Hidan, who I built against with mobility and piercing damage, this was going to be an entirely different fight. Deidara was all about mass numbers of explosions and singularly overwhelmingly powerful ones. He was also incredibly mobile while in the air, which was going to be a problem for half of our team.  
  
Fu could fly with her wings, which was convenient, but I didn’t know if she was on the same level of speed as Deidara’s bird. The best bet here was to either make Fu faster somehow or create a way for me to maneuver in the air; I suppose the best option would be to kill him before he ever got into the air.  
  
Obviously, I was going to attempt all three.  
  
I already had a decent assassination attack in Line Spear, and it would be much more devasting to Deidara then it had been to Kakuzu or Hidan. As far as I knew, Deidara was relatively normal durability wise, although he _had_ lost several limbs and continued fighting until he could get them sowed back on-that pointed to an incredible pain tolerance of some sort.  
  
I was going to attempt to create a ‘Haste’ styled buff, something that would increase the speed of my teammates overall, which _should_ include her flying speed; if it didn’t, I would have to go back to the drawing board.  
  
We absolutely couldn’t let him ramp up in explosion power with a long drawn out fight; we needed to take him down before he had a chance to use anything massive, or even that suicide technique of his.  
  
Sasuke had his elemental counter when they had fought, and he had still almost died, only sacrificing his most powerful summon had gotten him out of there alive. I should be able to keep track of any clones or subterfuge like hiding within the bird.  
  
Sasori was an entirely different animal.  
  
He had been the one I was incredibly worried about back when I first figured out what I was going to do. His lethal poison, the absolute overwhelming number of opponents he could bring to bear at a moment's notice, all of the kunai, shuriken, jutsu, and everything else he had packed into those puppets was dangerous. He also had that Iron Sand puppet, which I wanted absolutely no part of.  
  
The advantage we had over him was that I knew exactly where his weak point was; a single hit to his heart would probably be enough to take him down, I hoped. The problem was if we failed to take down either of them, it was going to be a clusterfuck of a fight again, just like the last one had been.  
  
I also couldn’t remember if his poisons were contact-based or if he needed to actually get it inside you somehow, through a cut or something. I was reasonably sure I could Status Removal it away or even out heal its Duration, but the better method was to not get hit at all. Some kind of protective shield like Iron Hide, except I wanted to be able to cast it on others as well.  
  
There was a series of protective buffs that I could remember, but the standout ones were Protect for physical damage and Shell for magic damage. I was going for Protect in this instance, increasing their physical defense enough, _hopefully,_ to at _least_ stop a glancing hit from a Kunai.  
  
The last thing was some kind of stationary platform I could stand on in the air, like that Renga guy and his Ice disc things. I didn’t need them to be elemental because that was silly, but I _did_ need them to be strong enough to stand on so I could use meditate while in an aerial battle; otherwise, there was a chance I would run out of Mana and have a very terrible fall awaiting me-like I had back in the Land of the Mountain.  
  
I glanced over at where Fu was hacking away at the air with Kubikiribōchō, and it honestly scared the hell out of me. Fu was a strange combination of having absolutely no prior training with a sword and a terrifying amount of enthusiasm. I watched her smack it into a tree several times earlier, and it had bounced off at an angle past her _own head_.  
  
Karenbana was also messing around with her own weapons, although with seemingly more restraint then Fu. I turned away after she caught me looking at her; I was apparently still on active ass-kicking notice.  
  
I dropped into Meditate and centered myself. I needed overall speed of movement, I needed it to have a long duration, I needed it to be able to cast it on others.  
  
I pushed Mana into my palm and started condensing it while focusing on the mantra. Overall Speed, Long Duration, Cast on Others. Speed, Duration, Other. I fed more Mana into it, and after almost an hour of single-minded focus, I found the mindset for it to take, as it suddenly twisted into itself like a spiral before rushing out of my hand is a burst of pale red light.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Tempo.  
  
I didn’t bother reading it yet and instead set about creating my other two skills while I had my focus honed to that razor-sharp level. It still took me almost another hour to figure out how to create the next two.  
  
You have unlocked a new skill, Aegis.  
You have unlocked a new skill, Mana Layer.  
  
I pulled up the descriptions of each skill and read through them quickly.

* * *

Tempo (Level 1) – A buff that enhances an ally’s speed rating.  
Type – Instant  
Cast Time – 0(60)  
Target – Other  
Cost – 88.25(200)  
Duration – 61(60) seconds.

  * Each level increases the speed rating by 0.25 (0.25 per level.)
  * Each level increases the Duration by 1 (1 per level) second.



* * *

Sixty seconds? Ugh, and the increase was practically worthless. I frowned at the description for a moment; something was wrong with it. The target? Other. No self. I immediately tried to cast it on myself, and the spell failed to take hold.  
  
You’ve got to be shitting me; I can’t even use it on myself? How was I going to train it?  
  
I’d have to find someone willing to sit still for a stupid amount of time and let me cast spells on them.  
  
 _Fuck._

* * *

Aegis (Level 1) – A buff that reduces incoming kinetic damage.  
Type – Instant  
Cast Time – 0(60)  
Target – Other  
Cost – 88.25(200)  
Duration – 61(60) seconds.

  * Each level increases the damage mitigated by 0.25 (0.25 per level.)
  * Each level increases the Duration by 1 (1 per level) second.



* * *

Another one, weak, sixty-second duration and I couldn’t cast it on myself, wonderful.

* * *

Mana Layer (Level 1) – A layer of Mana that can be directed by the user.  
Type – Instant  
Cast Time – 0(25)  
Target – Other  
Cost – 1(10)

  * Each level increases the durability of the layer by 1 (1 per level.)
  * Each level increases the maximum size of the layer by 0.25m (0.25 per level.)
  * Each level increases the control over shaping the layer.
  * Each level increases the range at which you can create the layer.



* * *

Mana Layer seemed to be the only real success of the bunch, and I could immediately see a way to exploit it. If one durability of the mana layer was equal to one of my durability, then I could dump all my Mana into over six thousand of the layers to try and block something. I mean, it would be an obscene waste of Mana, and I would get much more benefit out of dumping Mana into Iron Hide, but now I could potentially defend an area, somewhat.  
  
“Mana Layer,” I said quietly.  
  
The translucent pane of barely their Mana flashed into existence exactly where I wanted it to, I stepped onto it, and my foot immediately shattered it before smacking into the ground. I would definitely be needing to level this up; it couldn’t even do what I actually wanted it for yet.  
  
Was nothing ever easy with this damn ability?  
  


* * *

  
The next two months went by rather quickly; Karenbana and Fu both disappeared from the mornings to the afternoons to work whichever of the Jonin were free that day. I went and found an empty field to train in. It was incredibly boring, but there were the days where Karenbana and Fu would train with their swords, and I had somebody to banter with; they were definitely the best days.  
  
Once the other two finished for the day, we would meet up, and I would alternate between bullying Karenbana and Fu into sitting still while I cast buffs on them for hours on end. I even started waiting until they were asleep and Stealth casting it on them both, which seemed to not quite be enough to wake them up.  
  
I had several more talks with Tsunade and Kakashi together, and even a few with both of them on their own. Tsunade informed me that Naruto would be returning with Jiraiya soon, less than a month, most likely.  
  
Which meant that Akatsuki would be moving soon, very soon. In the next month or so.  
  
I still did physical training, but I spent almost all of it running laps around one of the many fields in Konoha. My biggest problem had always been the inability to keep up with the ninja’s chakra enhanced speed, and I had been hoping that my speed buff would help in that regard.  
  
Since it didn’t work on me, I was instead going to have to raise my speed to a level where I could at least track the motherfuckers. The Jaunt skill was pretty much cheating, but against people who had insane reflexes and speed, like Obito, Madara, Pain, Itachi, and whoever the hell else could keep up with that level of movement would probably destroy me.  
  
I needed to be able to think, fight, and react on that level, and _then_ spam Jaunt on top of it; that would make me strong. Right now, it was a crutch that would let me hang with the big boys, but I wanted it to be more than that, which meant I had to be fast.  
  
This meant sprinting around a field for hours on end, and if you hadn’t guessed it by now, _it fucking sucked._  
  


* * *

  
I didn’t know that Naruto had returned until I suddenly felt his massive chakra signature appear on the edge of my range. A few moments later, I felt Sakura join him, apparently alerted to his presence, and a few moments after _that,_ I felt what had to be Jiraiya’s massive signature arrive at the Hokage’s tower.  
  
“Naruto has just returned to the village,” I said cheerfully, “and you both know what that means!”  
  
“Nope!” Fu cheered.  
  
“You haven’t told us anything other than who we are fighting.” Karenbana said, annoyed, “Are we still going to Sunagakure, or are we trying to find them before they get there?”  
  
I coughed awkwardly.  
  
“We still need to go to Suna because I have absolutely no idea when they will actually attack!” I said cheerfully, “and running around the country looking for them would _definitely_ fail, what a terrible idea.”  
  
“When are we leaving then?” Karenbana huffed.  
  
“In about twenty minutes,” I said easily, “We need to go say hello first.”  
  
I stepped outside of the hotel and started to head towards where I could feel Naruto standing; unfortunately, he immediately started moving, so we had to change direction a few times until we finally turned a corner and spotted him.  
  
He was taller now and wearing what I immediately recognized from the source.  
  
“Naruto!” I called, and he immediately turned around.  
  
“Huh?!” Naruto cried, “When did you get here?!”  
  
I grinned.  
  
“Months ago,” I said easily, “We are actually leaving right now, so I thought I would come to talk to you first.”  
  
Naruto gaped at me.  
  
“I only just got back, and you’re already leaving!?” Naruto shouted.  
  
I nodded, amused.  
  
“Naruto, this is Fu, the seven tails Jinchuriki,” I said casually.  
  
“Hi, Naruto!” Fu cried, “You’re a Jinchuriki too, right? Let’s be friends!”  
  
Naruto kind of stilled for a moment, and I could almost see the blood drain from his face before he turned to stare at the older girl with wide eyes. It was both funny and sad that he would react like that.  
  
“Y-yeah!” Naruto said off-beat, “T-that sounds great.”  
  
“Karenbana is still following me around as well; as you can see, it’s pretty sad.” I said cheekily, “I think she’s got the hots for me.”  
  
“Fuck off,” Karenbana said immediately, before turning to Naruto. “Hey.”  
  
"Hey." Naruto managed, looking pretty overwhelmed at everything.  
  
“Anyway, you should definitely go talk to Tsunade,” I said more seriously, “Tell her that Sasori and Deidara will be moving soon and that we went on ahead to get ready.”  
  
Naruto apparently wasn’t yet aware of the two names because he didn’t react in the way I thought he would, but Tsunade would fill him in, I supposed. He looked like he was almost recovering, so I tossed in something else to keep him on his toes.  
  
“Did you know that you have a couple of distant relatives running around?” I asked curiously.  
  
“I do?” Naruto said, astonished.  
  
“Two that I can think of right now, although you _are_ distantly related to Tsunade, you know,” I said thoughtfully, “Karin Uzumaki is a medic-nin that worlds under Orochimaru, she’s the warden of one of the prisons? I think she would be pretty easy for Konoha to recruit if _you_ could talk to her.”  
  
That’s right, I was weaponizing his Talk-no-Jutsu into recruiting more people onto our side, sue me. Naruto was staring at me with his mouth open, so I kept on going.  
  
“There’s also a guy called Nagato Uzumaki; he’s the leader of Akatsuki, S-rank and strong enough to fight entire Ninja villages by himself and win-but if we can beat him down first, we might be able to recruit him as well.” I shrugged, “Anyway, I told Tsunade a bunch of other stuff that you should definitely go ask her about, like who your parents are; you should also go tell Jiraiya to teach you Sage Mode as soon as possible-you'll need it against Nagato.”  
  
Naruto had been rendered pretty much stunned at this point.  
  
“If she doesn’t tell you, I’ll tell you when I see you in Sunagakure,” I said easily, “It was nice seeing you again, man, don’t get complacent with your training, or I’ll end up doing all the work for you.”  
  
I gave him a wave and then walked off without another word.  
  
“Bye, Naruto-kun!” Fu said cheerfully, while Karenbana just waved.  
  
“B-bye, Fu-chan!” Naruto said weakly.  
  
We stepped around the corner and headed for the west-gates, and the others caught up to me after a moment.  
  
“Being on the other side of that for once is actually pretty funny,” Karenbana said wryly. “You are _such_ an asshole.”  
  
I just laughed.  
  
Naruto had returned to Konoha, Akatsuki would be setting out to capture Gaara, and Shippuden had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Duders and duderino's, this is it! 
> 
> Medium Meld comes to its conclusion, right at the beginning of Shippudden-sad I know.
> 
> Worry not I'll be getting started on outlining part two. This has been a really fun story to write, and I've learned a lot in the process. I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and thank you for staying the distance. If you enjoyed reading it, or you just like the style I'm developing-feel free to come to check out any of my other stories. I'm currently working hard at getting the first three chapters of an MHA fanfic ready-the chapters are a lot meatier than I usually do for fanfics at about 5k a chapter, the first chapter will be here on the 27th.
> 
> Stay safe!
> 
> Lame ass calls to action:  
> If you want to help me keep doing this, or simply want to show some support, check out my Patreon, Web serial, or drop by and leave a comment, or review-whatever you feel like on any of the sites I post stuff on! Every bit helps. Peace!

**Author's Note:**

> Status  
> Name – Sora  
> Title – N/A  
> Age - 22  
> Level - 1  
> Health Points - 100/100  
> Mana Points - 101/101  
> Vitality 10 (Total Health, 10 HP per point.)  
> Strength 10 (Physical Power.)  
> Speed 10 (Movement speed, Reflexes.)  
> Perception 10 (Sensory Reception, Accuracy.)  
> Intelligence 11 (Plasticity, Comprehension, Memory.)  
> Mana 10 (Total Mana, 10 MP per point.)  
> Luck 0 (Increases chance of finding loot, Increases quality of item drops.)  
> Stat points 0  
> Health Recovery Rate – 0.25  
> Mana Recovery Rate – 0.25  
> Stealth Rating – 17  
> Perception Rating - 10  
> * () are tooltips that appear when hovered.


End file.
